Tron: Unlimited
by QuilSniv
Summary: Argon kept all safe, until Concept, a User-like virus takes over, and Travis, a young engineer at GridTech Labs, is ripped away from one of his few friends. And just as everything fell apart, his life was put together by his choice to become the Renegade. And his actions against Concept leaves the people of Argon with one question: Is the Renegade a Hero? Or the mask of a Lie?
1. Chapter 1: Return, Pt 1

Chapter 1: Return, Pt. 1

_Argon City, TC2013, GridTech Labs..._

Argon City was a sure sign of recovery. The Grid Wars were over, carved into history archives, and Argon had been the first to build itself back up. Smaller buildings, destroyed in TC406, were reconstructed into massive skyscrapers, glistening in the circuitry of their fellow skyscrapers. With the defeat of the Occupation, led by the power-hungry CLU, in TC 1103, came massive casualties and the reward of freedom. Argon was a distant city, only reachable by either the Arjia Conduit or by aqua or air transport via the Sea of Simulation. Light Cycles, Grid Limos, whatever a program used these days, faithfully carried their owners to their proper locations.

Everything was peaceful here. And that was just the way Travis liked it.

Thin, tall, and physically in top shape, Travis (short for **Technical Retrofitting Aptitude** and **Vanguard Insurrection Specialist**) was at his prime, even as an engineer at GridTech Labs. Short, soft brown hair, bristled and shot at an angle towards the ends, blew across Travis' face when he stepped into Argon's tranquil breeze. Some programs liked to joke about how he was similar in personality to Beck, the hero known as Delta, and the previous owner of his former title "Renegade". Travis just went along with it, saying that though he did carry a close physical resemblance to the young war hero, he probably wouldn't amount to much in his lifespan, despite the fact that he was one of Heliod's top engineers at GridTech, using the steady paycheck to rent an apartment, keep himself with a fresh supply of energy, and pay his loans for term at Argon Institute.

"Hey, Trav," one of his coworkers shouted over the noise of recoders and fission drivers, "I found a glitch in an old Light Cycle and I need your help." Travis went over to the heavily-customized Light Cycles and inspected it.

"These are really old parts," Travis said, activating his safety gear, "If I were to guess, these parts would be from... about, maybe, TC1023." His co-worker's jaw dropped, his muscles letting go from shock. "These are too old for real use. Get the customer and tell him that we need to replace his afterburner and coolant turbines. The afterburner fumes were blocked by this chop-shop focus array- highly illegal, and used to increase the strength and longevity of a Light Ribbon. I'm going to call Ginger on it, and see if she can remove that part. Talk to Reto and see if we have any spare units for her to work with." The Co-worker nodded, rushing off to find the two programs.

Travis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers, then using the other two fingers, his ring and pinkie, to rub his eyelids from exhaustion.

"Travis!" A sharp, clipped accent barked a few meters away, and closing in. Travis stood up straight and observed Heliod striding towards him. Short, lean and equipped with many tools necessary for her function, she was head of GridTech Labs, and never appreciated a slacker. However, she rested a soft, velvety hand on one of Travis' orange secondary circuits. "You are right there, kid?" Travis nodded, and deactivated his safety gear.

"Yeah, just another illegal upgrade found that's welded in and overheating the afterburner. It's causing the entire bike to glitch up. Just tired and frustrated." Heliod patted Travis on the shoulder and pointed towards the individual labs. Besides, they didn't call it GridTech Labs just to repair vehicles. GridTech was one of the highest in renown for their exceptional technology, which was cheaply priced, but sold in high quantities. "Tell you what, kid. Get some rest after finishing that new Light Cycle you've been coding, and come back next Cycle. I have a major assignment to give you and a few others." Travis nodded, waved to Heliod, and headed back into his lab.

The best part of being a top engineer at GridTech, Travis thought, was having an individual lab with infinite resources to build technology to create high funds for the Labs themselves. Besides the fact that he had unlimited tools at his disposal, and a state-of-the-art lab to use them in, Travis had a helping hand: BIT. BIT assisted Travis in his work room, operating different consoles and giving his master status updates. Basically, to Travis, BIT was four extra limbs in a spiky ball. Travis coded open his door, and put his bluetooth in his ear.

"Hey, BIT," Travis said to no one in particular, "Are those coding strands ready to be solidified?"

"_YES_." Travis nodded, and shoved a wrench into a random, organized drawer system. "Good. Commence the power signature transfer." The response was another "YES" as a beam of high-radius energy coded itself into a newer, sleeker Light Cycle. Unlike the 5th Gen model, which was designed for acceleration rather than speed, Travis edited his Light Cycle to be balanced in all four categories of Light Cycle statistics: Speed, Acceleration, Handling and Durability. He knew that while they couldn't be a perfect mix, he could alter the braking system to make the model close to even in statistics.

Travis ran his hand over the sleek, new bike he designed, having been doing so for DecaCycles, and rezzed it back into a baton. "Check it out, BIT..." He murmured, strapping the new baton to his belt, "The newest Light Cycle to hit the shelves." It took a hundred Cycles, but to create the 6th gen Light Bike... it was well worth his time and code.

Travis' bluetooth went off, his index finger pushing the 'receive' button. "This is Travis, who is it?" A loud, half-maniacal, half-friendly laugh splintered Travis' eardrum.

Travis rubbed his ear as a clipped, well-trained voice replaced the laugh. "_Trav, you should know by now that it's gonna be me who calls you at this hour._" Travis looked up at the clock. It had been a full PectroCycle since he went into his lab, and he hadn't even noticed a NanoCycle fly by. "Sorry, Zek. I lost track of time. Been finishing the new Light Bike." As one of Travis' best friends, Zek was knowledgable of all of Travis' past works, and usually filled in on GridTech's current models. "_Ah, so I heard. Congrats on finishing the new bike. Now hurry up. Miranda, Natalie and I are at 322__nd__ and Jolson intersection. We're walking to your place_." Travis considered how fast he could make it to his apartment: with the new, incomplete prototype, he could be there much quicker than the others, and if he used the classic 4th Gen he kept at his waist, he would have to sneak in the back door.

"Yeah, I'll be there soon. Just need to give Heliod the prototype and I can be there in a few Nanos." Zek silently nodded and hung up as Travis hurriedly turned off his computer system, coded the door, and allowed BIT to rush out with him. Travis jumped, activating the prototype Light Bike, and sped down 9th street to his apartment.

* * *

Travis' bike's brakes screeched across the ground, leaving tire trails in the dust behind him. The first thing he saw, upon nearing 15th street, was fire. Blue flames, licking at the air above it. It could only mean one detail. Or there was an alternative, even worse than the previous assumption.

Either some kind of gang war, or, as Travis would guess correctly, another CLU had arrived to take the former dictator's place on the throne.

Soon enough, tanks began rolling past Travis' stone-still body. Tanks with yellow circuitry, and secondary circuits of pale-green. Travis watched in horror as Sentry-like Programs, though this time with riot gear, began tearing down buildings like they were simple roadblocks. They had force fields erected around the entire two city blocks, and had programs screaming for help inside the doomed apartment buildings.

Travis pushed his Light Cycle into it's baton, and snuck around the eastern wall of the perimeter. A recoder, one from GridTech Labs, slipped into his hands and began clearing sections of code in order for Travis to sneak through. A back exit led into his house via a fire escape, which was enough to give him room to shove a few belongings out the hole. His helmet slid over his head, to prevent smoke from hindering his objectives.

He knew that the belongings he took would have to scarce and easy to transport. Though Zek had a large storage transport, he scarcely used it, only to go camping in the Outlands with Travis, Miranda and Natalie. As Travis held up a small duffel bag with his belongings, he picked up several items he might deem useful: Several bottles of energy, some spare code to work with, a handheld holoprojection console, and a few photos of himself, Natalie, Miranda and Zek. They would be the only memento he had at this point of his former home.

Apparently, not a single program had noticed Travis' illegal entry, but he was cautious, as trained by Heliod, as he slid down the ladder railing, and through the re-coded barrier. The code fixed itself, sealing the barrier as Travis dashed through it.

Travis slid around the corner, only to look up in horror as several bombers made a collaborative effort, bombs searing the code of buildings below them. The helmet in front of Travis' face hid his tragedy as foundations collapsed on themselves, setting an example for the buildings that crumbled with them and pushing dust into the air. And one of these houses once belonged to Travis.

Citizens hid behind riot barricades, watching as a program whose entire body beside his head strode towards the programs in front of him. Travis grit his teeth behind his mask as he stood at the front of the crowd, where the program's yellow circuits, in a cracked pattern, showed themselves behind his cloak. The helmet, to Travis' keen eye, was the most offsetting feature. It resembled the helmet of Kevin Flynn, his System Administrator CLU, and the famous System Monitor Anon.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the program growled, his voice distorted and sharp behind his mask, possibly even without the mask. "I am your new ruler, Concept. As of this Cycle, I am supervising the construction of a new military base here in Argon." He gestured to the yellow-circuited programs behind him, who saluted loyally. "These are your protectors of the law: my Enforcers. They are upgraded versions of CLU's Sentry, and will keep you safe from any trouble. They are programmed to only keep peace, but I am not bound to programming. If you so much as question my rule, you have me to answer to."

"Trav!" Travis turned around to see three programs rushing towards him. One was a tall male Basic, with spiky black hair and white and green circuitry on his Light Suit.

It was clear that he had found Zek.

The other two were females, yet still Basics. One was shorter than the other, and bore velvet-red circuits as a secondary color. Miranda was a stand-out with her blonde hair, containing seven different colors on the left hairline. And Natalie. The taller of the two, with long, chest-length hair, and bearing soft, lavender-purple secondary circuits. Travis' best friends, here to support him in his trial of courage. And he appreciated it.

"What happened?" Natalie asked, gripping Travis' hand with both of her own. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Travis said, kneeling from a leg wound. He had tried escaping quickly, grazing himself on the windowsill. "Not so sure about my place, though. And I think Big, Tall and Demented over there is feelin' better than two of myself." Miranda marched through the crowd, and faced the towering figure that was Concept.

"Excuse me!" Miranda shot out, prompting Concept to turn around. "Just what do you think you're doing?!" Travis stood up, rushing to get to the front of the crowd. She hadn't heard Concept's Rule Number One, and it was important she be stopped before anything bad happened. "You can't just tear down program's homes and expect us to be okay with that! Wait until the Coalition-" Concept's disk moved faster than Miranda, and the force of her derezzing body combined with Concept's superhuman strength smashed her into cubes, scattering right into where Travis was standing. Just feet away from stopping the scene.

"MIRANDA!" Travis' lungs blew a fuse as his friend's disk ID disk rolled into his hand, the purple edges glowing menacingly. "NO!" He gripped the disk, until microscopic cracks formed on the area of hold. "No..."

"Don't try anything," Concept whispered where only Travis could hear. He then bellowed loud enough that Travis flinched in an attempt to keep himself. "What just happened is an example of whoever tries to question me. Any program who attempts a similar action will face the same punishment. Now, unlike Tesler, I understand that jurisdiction by curfew is unnecessary. You will return to your normal lives, and you will never realize that we were ever here." Concept swung on his heels and strode away, four Enforcers accompanying him. "Good day to you all."Travis' helmet retracted, showing his rage in a state of anger. Natalie's hands grabbed Travis' arms, and locked them together tightly. Travis closed his eyes and shook his head in the art of shame.

* * *

Travis' fist smashed into the table, creating a large splinter upon impact. Travis' disk, lit in an orange blade and white center, lay inactive on the now-destroyed table. Natalie watched as Travis silently stormed around the room. She knew that with Travis, a silent rage could mean inner trauma.

"Trav?" Natalie's voice stopped Travis' quiet ranting, allowing her to stand up and place a hand on his shoulder. "Are you... okay? I mean... if you don't want to talk about it..."

"I'm fine," Travis croaked, blinking back tears, "Just... a bit too much, that's all. I've lost everything except you and Zek, my job, and a few profound possessions that were just laying there. I only took what the fire and dirt hadn't. My home... Miranda... our freedom... it's all gone."

"I know," Natalie said, motioning for Travis to sit down, pointing to the chair with her finger. Travis, knowing not to get on Natalie's dark side, obediently lay down in the chair. "We lost a lot this Cycle. But just remember this: next Cycle, we'll still be here. And if Concept is true to his word... then almost nothing will have changed. Just a few homes were destroyed. Nothing more."

"A few homes?!" Travis shouted, forcing Natalie's body to flinch backwards. "Just a few homes?! Nat, I was _there _when Concept's forces began tearing down 9th and Junction! There were innocent programs, trapped inside the barricades! And do you know what the Enforcers did?! NOTHING! They just _stood_ there, backs against the screams... I saw it. I know you may not like Concept, and you might not have seen it, but I did." Travis' heavily-breathing body stood stone-cold for several NanoCycles, then loosened it's cold demeanor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Natalie began breaking down, rushing towards her friend and sobbing into his chest.

"I'll find a way to fix this," Travis said, running his hand through Natalie's hair, "I'll ask Heliod if I can take a business trip to Tron City in a few Cycles. Maybe I can go and get to the bottom of this. Maybe I can figure out why the Coalition is turning a blind eye... why Tron isn't here."

* * *

"No can do, kid," Heliod said, using a fusion welder to scorch two pieces of code together in her lab. "I have a few assignments to be done, and I need all senior staff in Argon." Travis straightened up, nodding in compliance. Arguing with Heliod was a lost cause; if she had a final say, it stuck like a Light Cycle in the Outland wilderness.

"Huh... eh, all right," Travis said, holding a baton for a custom Light Cycle order Zek had placed a MylaCycle back, "I've figured from experience that this isn't going any further." Heliod looked back, turning off the fusion welder, and nodded an approving nod. "So.. you needed me for a 'major assignment'. Would you care to elaborate?" Heliod nodded, sealing away her new project, and strode over with Travis to a holoprojector. She activated it, and a large ghostly image of a GridTech energy rig was initiated, the bottom of the Sea of Simulation farther below it. Travis pointed a finger and squinted. "Hey, isn't that the rig we've got in Argon Quay?"

"Smart boy," Heliod said, pressing another button and beginning her explanation. "Recently, we built the Raft to begin mining energy, since it's crucial to the creation of all of this equipment around us." Travis nodded and noticed a large red dot. "Two Cycles ago, we experienced problems with the drilling. Some kind of box was buried underneath the Sea of Simulation floor. We suspect, based on the ore settlement patterns in the quay, that this thing is from the Grid Wars era. It's blocking our drill, and we can't risk moving the Raft in lieu of allowing the energy to freely escape to the surface."

"So, in short, you're telling me to remove the suitcase and allow the drill to continue mining." Heliod looked up, pulling back her lenses to reveal two diamond-blue, pale eyes from their hiding place. Travis' memories reminded him of how a Coalition ordnance accident had blinded her, and she required the lenses for everything. Though she retained her brilliance, Heliod would look up to Travis in his ability to be her fifth sense.

"Sometimes I envy how smart you are, kid."

* * *

Travis rubbed the fog off of his mask, exasperated by the lack of self-cleaning visors. Despite being the top technology producer in the entire Grid, Travis lamented over the fact that he couldn't get something with better visibility.

"Hey, Heliod," Travis grumbled, holding the helmet in his left hand, the right hand adjusting the correct mods on his SCUBA suit. "Any chance I can just go down in my Light Suit and mask?"

"Sorry," Heliod denied, helping Reto put on his emergency surface unit, "Pressure levels are too high down at the bottom of the Sea. Your masks would crack and break before the halfway checkpoint. These SCUBA masks are designed by AIChem. They're designed to be cheaply manufactured, and are cheaply sold. Too bad our budget is strained enough that we can't afford one of those sophisticated Liparth Corp suits." Travis sighed. Some of one of his co-worker's experiments involved a lot of credits, severely pressuring GridTech Labs' budget. This was pushing them towards either cutting off funds for Gregor's experiments, or merging with AIChem for more funding. And Travis knew that Heliod wasn't one to cancel an employee's work.

"So, get to the bottom of the Sea and remove the box. Otherwise, we're gonna have a real barricade to deal with." Travis' mind shot backwards, the screams of innocent programs filling his ear, at the pronunciation of a single word. Travis nodded and jumped over the edge, a large splash and ripple effect the sole reminder of his exit. Reto joined him shortly after.

"_Do you see anything?_" Reto's distorted voice filled Travis' ears as they sunk deeper into the water. "No, nothing yet. We're nearing the quarter-way checkpoint." A large, blinking light flashed green as Travis and Reto swam downward into the blackening depths. "I can't see anything. Activating floodlights." Two pairs of four floodlights brought an end to the void of the ocean depths.

Reto shivered, watching a code shark swim by and grazing his gear. "_I don't think they like visitors_." Travis nodded, moving deeper until a loud, deep grinding noise replaced the comm static. "Stay sharp. We've found the drill. Could be anywhere." Reto shouted, wincing as the drill skinned his right arm, code flowing freely from the wound.

"Reto, head back to the surface," Travis ordered, "I'm not taking any chances with this one." Reto's floodlights bounced up and down as the figure bearing them shot towards the surface.

"_Travis, what the Users?!_" Heliod's voice replaced Reto's comm, forcing Travis to land on the seabed. "_You just sent your friend back up! What're you gonna do if you get hurt?!_"

"I'll be fine, Heliod," Travis coolly replied, "And get Reto some medical help. He cut himself with the drill. And don't worry, the box'll be gone by the end of the PectroCycle." Heliod responded affirmatively and cut the channel.

Travis descended to the point of the box's location. A large, thin, black box, with a handle on it. Travis recognized this as a suitcase. His first instinct was to open a channel with Heliod.

"This is Trav. I think I just found our problem. It's a suitcase. And it's heavy. I can't lift it out without breaking a bone."

"_Try opening it._" Heliod calmly spoke to him, as if nothing was going wrong. "I_f we can get rid of the contents, then-_" Static replaced Heliod's voice as Travis began following her instructions. He knew that it was common to lose contact this far below the surface, but the way it cut her off... it was demonizing.

The first few things floated out, a brick, another brick, and yet another brick. Travis raised an eyebrow, then closed the suitcase. Picking it up now felt like a feather. "This is Trav. I'm coming back u-" Travis looked around, eyes widening as the ground beneath him shook. "Uh, Heliod?! What's going on?!"

* * *

"The coding you broke off destabilized!" Heliod shouted, gripping the console. "You're right in the middle of an undersea current! Get outta there before-" A loud bang shook the station to it's core. Warning klaxons blared, programs rushed to their designated areas. But Heliod remained in her chair, watching Travis' camera feed. Bubbles sprayed everywhere, Travis' voice raising an octave as he shouted in surprised shock. A few Nanos passed before the camera feed became as static as Travis' comm unit.

Heliod just sat there, hoping that, eventually, it would come back online.

* * *

Travis' eyes slowly forced themselves open, their owner having no control over the movement. As though in slow-motion, Travis lifted his sand-coated body onto it's knees. Breathing heavily, Travis read his status check in his HUD. All of his bodily systems were functioning normally, and there was no collateral damage as far as limb function.

Travis laid back, using his hands to keep himself from falling back. Looking around, Travis realized he was laying on Argon Port's least hospitable beach. Travis leaned forward, noticing a large black box in front of him.

He knew that whoever left the suitcase to sink to the bottom presumably had a valid and good reason to abandon it where he did. But Travis wasn't one to let mysteries solve themselves. On the contrary, he enjoyed chasing the trail of bread-crumbs to their hub, and earning a long-earned thanks. This was a case he wanted to solve badly. Badly enough that the end of the Grid wouldn't stop him.

Cautious, since it could turn out to be a bomb, Travis activated his safety gear and popped open the lid. A silver and white glint flowed out from the suitcase, reflecting into the smooth amber gems that were Travis' eyes. This was a treasure, one not commonly found in this scenario.

Inside the suitcase lay the disk of a hero who had vanished into dust nearly a KiloCycle ago- a hero known as the Renegade.

_QuilSniv Proudly Presents_

_Book Two of the Tron: Aftermath series..._

Tron: Unlimited

* * *

**A/N: So here we are. Yeah, I know we're on a bit of a cliffhanger, but that's why we have part 2 to look forward to tomorrow, if at all possible. I'll be gone from Wednesday to Friday on a trip, so you won't receive a review or favorite. But let's remember that we have a clean slate, and I'll use all my power to make this a good story regardless. Oh, by the way, review and favorite the third gen Tron writers (Myself, PrincessKai317, and 2theSky), check out the Grid Time System on my profile, and just be prepared for Chapter 2.**

Beck: Ooooh! Will I be in it?

Me: Um... maybe? I don't wanna give away too much, otherwise the readers won't have anything to look forward to.

Beck: Aw...

Travis: Well at least you have the three-program band to definitely look forward to!

Me: Oh, yeah. Well, as my closing note, Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle!

**Next: Travis decides to wear the Renegade Disk and begins his one-man war against Concept's forces.**

**The Renegade Lives! P.S: What would be a cool name for Concept's forces? You decide! And I'm also letting people submit ideas for OCs, and they wil be promised a supporting role in at least one chapter. Yeah... Kay!**


	2. Chapter 2: Return, Pt 2

Chapter 2: Return, Pt. 2

Travis gazed at the costume-in-the-box before him. The Renegade Disk flared against the light of Argon's buildings. Silver and white gleamed against the glass mask that clamped Travis' face. Travis ripped off the mask and stared at it, no lens flares blocking his vision.

He carefully picked up the disk, holding it horizontally in both hands. It seemed fascinating to hold something that wasn't his, but at the same time, he felt he was violating somebody's private life. Beck had tons of memories on his disk, before tossing it into the Sea of Simulation, and Travis felt he was on a trail to another mystery. Travis winced as he pressed a Disk lock mechanism, and a life-size hologram rezzed in from the disk's core. A program, with a small amount of white and blue circuitry and a glowing white "D" on his chest, was the only object in the hologram. Delta. Travis stood up and drew his disk for good measure, not even activating it.

"Greetings, program," the Beck hologram spoke, Travis backing away in shock, "If you're receiving this message, that means you found my half of Tron's Disk. And that probably means that something's happening. Even if there isn't some crazy CLU successor running around-" Travis rolled his eyes at the irony of the message, "-there is still a lot of crime going around in Argon. And I'm not going to be there to fight all of it. Whoever you are, I need your help. This disk is the key. It's all yours. Be the hero, and make sure that the Renegade's name is kept alive." The hologram sank into the disk, Travis moving towards it. Picking it up, the disk was split halfway. Travis, hoping that the reward was greater than the risk, put the Renegade Disk on his back, and watched as the white suit took over a suit he knew so well.

And then, everything went white.

* * *

Travis looked around. A slate-white room surrounded him, with no evident walls to be seen. Looking down at his body, Travis noted that the Renegade costume had vanished, replaced with his civilian outfit.

"What the Users?!" Travis shouted, his voice echoing through his subconscious. "What's going on?! _Where am I?!_"

Travis sunk to his knees, pounding his fists on the invisible floor around him. A soft, mellow noise, the sound of footsteps, caught Travis' attention. Two boots, white in color, appeared in front of his confused face. Travis stared up as he saw Beck's hand take his and pull him up.

"You okay, kid?" Beck said, clapping the now-standing Travis on the shoulder. "Or should I call you Trav?" Beck raised an eyebrow as Travis scrunched his face in annoyance.

"That's a personal thing, Beck!" Travis shot back, "Now, you have some explaining to do! Why am I here? Why are _you_ here?!"

"One at a time, Travis," Beck smiled, gesturing to the black void around him. "This is your subconscious. I created this place in your mind. When you attached my disk to yours, you allowed me to enter your memories. And now, as a side-effect, when wearing my Disk, you can use my memories."

"So... does this mean that I can use your fighting skills as well?" Travis asked meekly, hoping for a positive answer. Contrary, Beck shook his head. "Sadly, no. My fighting skills are something I taught myself. If you want to learn to fight, you need to teach yourself." Travis frowned, forcing Beck to laugh. "But... I can teach you to fight. I went into your most recent memories. There's a program called Concept, correct? And he's taken over the Grid, just like CLU?"

"Yeah, only he's a bit more benevolent to the public. On the personal level, he's more or less CLU to the squared." Beck nodded in understanding. "I feel guilty, though. I could have saved one of my friends from derezzing. I only needed a few more seconds to stop Concept. But I couldn't do it. I failed."

"And that means you have a responsibility, Trav," Beck bluntly pointed out, jabbing a finger into Travis' chest, "You have to make sure that Miranda's death doesn't go unnoticed. You can be the next Renegade. You can show Concept that he doesn't have the entire Grid to himself. But you need to be cautious. Keeping this secret will not be easy, especially around your friends."

"I can do this," Travis said, nodding in compliance, "I will do this. I promise. I'll find your consciousness a home, other than my mind. But I have a score to settle with Concept's forces first. And some explaining to do with Heliod."

"Be my guest," Beck said, fading away into the void. "But remember... be cautious. Concept's forces are new to me, and I don't know what kind of tricks they have." Travis nodded as color flashed back into his eyes. Black, white, a rainbow of colors bringing Travis back to Argon. Travis gasped, leaning forward for air, then sitting down on the nearest bench he could find. He had a lot to think about.

* * *

_Next Cycle, GridTech Labs..._

"What the Users happened to you, kid?!" Heliod snapped, as Travis strode into his lab and dumped the damaged equipment on the repair table. "I thought you were destabilized! Why didn't you contact me last Cycle?!" Travis sighed as he moved a box of tools to the counter next to his security feed.

"I... was held up." Travis knew that at least was true. "I don't have an excuse."

"Well, at least you're fessing up," Heliod muttered, flipping out a Conduit Spanner to inspect the prototype 6th Gen Light Bike Travis had designed. "Gregor just depleted 12% of our budget last night. And he even lied about it when I questioned him. He was experimenting with 100 megaton yield fragmentation explosives. I hate to do it... but I have to cut off Gregor's funding for these. They could prove dangerous if we're ever in trouble with Concept's forces, and they could prove useful to said Concept if he ever wants us to work for him. I know what kind of trouble Concept's forces would want."

"And how would you know about that?" Travis asked blindly, not taking his eyes off of his fission welder.

"I once worked with Able. We were once co-workers there, until I created GridTech, and he went his own path. Remember that merging a DecaCycle ago? We merged with Able's Garage. And they used to be forced to work for General Tesler and his forces." Travis looked up, reminding himself of the Renegade disk. "Speaking of which, what happened to the box you found last Cycle? I wanted to have a look at it's contents. Travis' pupils dilated, the question sending him through a quest to find an answer.

"I was gonna bring it up." Travis confessed, though the full statement was only half true. "I got separated from it during the accident. Sorry I lost it. Maybe even forever." True enough was that Travis had gotten aboard a Light Boat and dumped the suitcase, empty of it's contents, back into the Sea of Simulation, making sure it hit the coastal rocks.

"It's okay. I'll send a recovery team to search for it. In the meantime, you should start looking for a place to stay. I heard about what happened. I'm sorry, for both your home and Miranda." Travis gazed at the screen solemnly, BIT joining him in silence. Heliod nodded in understanding, closing the door on her way out. As soon as Travis was sure that Heliod was gone, he slipped a data chip from his equipment belt and plugged it in. "BIT, start the transfer process."

"YES." BIT remotely activated the screen, Beck's voice and body pictured out of it. "All right. Feels good to have some space. What I would give for some energy right now..."

"Not the right time for jokes, Beck," Travis sharply interrupted, "We need to find you another computer to keep your conscious in. You can't stay in there forever." Beck's eyes turned into a storm of panic, as Travis explained. "Heliod does a routine network sweep every MylaCycle. I could try putting you on an isolated system, but that wouldn't keep you hidden for more than another MylaCycle later."

"It's not like it'll make much of a difference, Trav," Beck said, "The longest my conscious has away from my disk is half a MylaCycle. By the time you establish a base, it'll be too late."

"What about the hideout you used when you were the Renegade? Wouldn't that keep your conscious stable?"

"That base is publicly known," Beck grimaced, "It would have worked had the Occupation not discovered it a while back. We need to prepare you while we can. In the meantime, I need you to take anything that may help you in the future. Take every baton possible, and everything else, the roadster and viruses are yours for the taking." Travis shook his and pounded the desk.

"Beck, you can't die out on me!" Travis wailed, tears hiding behind his eyes, "We'll find you a way to keep you alive! I promise!" Beck stepped back, and pointed a finger at him.

"Travis, I'm leaving my legacy in your hands. I need you to keep it for me. And don't worry. One of the things that made me a successful Renegade was going on missions that were my idea. I learned from each mistake I made, and I did better next time. Only this time, you'll be on your own for your entire career. Besides, one day you'll find the real me. And he'll help you. I promise."

Travis nodded, understanding what Beck was saying. "I'm sorry, Beck. I wish I could help, I really do. But now, I'm going to leave you alone for a while. I have some issues to work out with my home and energy situation."

"All right. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back." Travis nodded and exited the room. Beck, from behind his screen, sighed, not even knowing how much time he had left.

* * *

"Trav! Over here!" Travis followed the sound of Natalie's voice to a small booth, where his friend sat waiting. "There you are. Kinda wish you got here sooner."

"Sorry. Heliod was chewing at my cubes for an accident on the Raft." Travis slid into the seat, looking at the empty space across from him. "Where's Zek?"

"He said he was held up. Not to worry, at least your behavior is reliable this Cycle." As if on cue, a figure occupied the space. Zek grinned as Travis dubiously smiled in an awkward manner. "Sorry I'm late, guys," he replied to Travis' silent question, "I got held up at Argon Architecture. Since the you-know-what happened last night," Travis and Natalie looked at each other, frowning at the mention of Miranda's 'incident', but decided to play along on Zek's excuse, "They need a new head of Design and Building Placement. And guess who they picked to do it?"

"Wow! That's great, man!" Travis said, high-fiving his best friend, "I can picture it now... Zek, start growing a beard. That's the only part of my image you're missing, besides the heroic pose and explosion behind you." Everybody at the table cracked up, as Zek leaned forward and took a sip of his drink.

"So, Trav," Zek said, changing his lively face into a serious businessman look, "I hear you're looking for a place to stay. Natalie and I talked it over, and we decided you should stay at my place."

"What? No, I couldn't. I'm gonna play it fair and say I pay half the rent. At your place? I could barely pay a fifth of what half the rent is, let alone the full rent."

"Ah, don't clixel it." Zek shrugged and took another drink from his cup. "We've all been going through a lot these past few Cycles. The least I can do is..." Zek stopped as he noticed Travis wasn't paying attention. As Zek waved his hand in front of Travis' eyes, he turned around to see eight Enforcers stepping into the Club, and pushing a program's head into the counter as they walked by. Zek turned around to see Travis seething with genuine anger. His teeth were grinding enough that they could turn to dust, his pupils were shrunk to little pinpricks, and his eyebrows sunk deep enough that they formed a "V" in the ridge.

"I don't get it," Travis said, "The Enforcers are arresting homeless programs? That doesn't make any sense."

"They're probably repurposing them to serve in Concept's army," Natalie replied, gripping Travis' hand strong enough that he temporarily lost all feeling in it. "Either that, or they're sendin' programs to the Coliseum."

"Repurposing units were destroyed in the aftermath of the Grid Wars," Travis said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And forcing civilian programs to participate in derezz matches of the Games was banned shortly after. Something's up with Concept. And I'll prove it." Travis turned to Zek and held out his hand. "When can I move in?"

Zek didn't waste any time taking the hand.

* * *

_Two Cycles later..._

Travis lay on the bed of his room. Zek had been generous enough to give Travis a medium-sized bedroom, along with his own bathroom. The apartment that Zek lived in, and now with Travis as well, was large enough to fit about five programs comfortably, with the ability to accommodate about three more with little pressure. But Travis' large mind wasn't thinking about where he was living. More or less, he cared more about Beck's ghost-like entiry. He only had a couple of Cycles left before Beck was lost to whatever he was facing.

Sitting upright, Travis walked over to the disk and picked it up. The edge shone brightly, tempting Travis to strike something with it. He pushed back the urge, instead inserting the disk into his dock. White overtook black, becoming a frenzy of circuits and symbols, the only noticeable one being the "T" on his chest. His mask gripped his face as he jumped out the window towards his mission, rezzing in his Light Cycle. The first stop, however, would be GridTech Labs. Gregor had a small present waiting for him, that wasn't gift-wrapped with love. Still, it would suit his needs.

* * *

Travis slid behind cover of a Light Tank, avoiding the patrol of Enforcers marching in unison nearby. He cursed himself with not creating a black version of the suit, with minimal circuitry to boot. Then again, the recoder he had on hand was too flimsy for disk editing, and the stronger models were in a crowded area where he could be even more easily spotted.

Travis' Renegade suit dimmed it's circuitry as he slipped into the military base. How fast they had built it in half a millicycle disturbed Travis, but he paid no mind as he climbed up into the central dome, where dozens of Enforcers were resting from settling into Argon. Not that they had needed any rest at this point.

Through an air duct, Travis activated a Fragmentation Charge, one of the prototype models Gregor had designed himself. He felt like a thief, stealing somebody else's work, but this wasn't plagiarism. This was war.

As the charge counted down, it splintered in multiple smaller bombs, until a group of Enforcers noticed and shouted, "Intruder alert! Intruder alert. Threat within base!" Travis grinned sadistically as he leaped out the air duct, a large wave of fire and shrapnel erupting into the air.

Hiding behind a half-destroyed Light Tank, the Renegade sighed as Concept rushed towards the flaming ruins that were once his base. He swished his cape backwards to prevent the flames from spreading like contagion, and turned around to his men.

"Why aren't you idiots moving?!" He shouted to a large cluster of Sentries, who immediately rushed towards their designated structures. "This base will take MylaCycles to rebuild. Everybody, get to work!"

Travis jumped to the top of his Light Tank cover and shouted. "You know, it only took you half a MylaCycle to build it anyway! Why didn't you just put an insurance claim on it?!" Concept turned to face the voice and growled as he eyed the Light Suit in seething fury.

"You... you're the Renegade..." Travis turned to see civilians programs seeking a hiding place behind the riot barricades. "Sorry, but the Renegade isn't able to take your call right now, please leave Tron a message at the tone."

Travis' confident (and hidden) smirk quickly turned upside down as a baton bashed upside into his helmet. The Renegade turned to see the citizens of Argon throwing miscellaneous items at him, ranging from wrenches to bottles of energy.

"You're no Tron!" One program shouted, followed by a thousand more insults. "You're not Beck! You're nothing!"

"Why are you doing this?! We were fine until you came along!" Travis said nothing, as he mounted his Light Bike and sped off down the Outland Highway. Though it seemed he was fleeing, he turned off his circuitry and sped onto the cut-off leading back into Argon, fooling Concept's forces into keeping the chase on the main road.

Travis sighed, pulled back his helmet, and changed his costume back into his civilian outfit. He needed to speak with Beck. Next Cycle would be Beck's last. Seemed only fitting that a program go out with bad news. After all, that was how every other program derezzed. A bad way.

* * *

"...and that's about it." Travis concluded, swiveling his chair to face Beck's screen. "I think your costume's out of style. And it may just be that Concept had twisted the public mind."

"Well, the suit isn't exactly designed for stealth, Trav." Beck's voice was a soft hiss, intelligible enough that Travis could understand him. "You can edit the suit any way you think will help you adapt. Maybe add some new tech that you're building at GridTech. As for the public opinion... it won't change overnight. You have to earn their trust. And it won't happen over-Cycle. One person will change, and the domino effect will come in place. Be patient." A rupture of static burst from the stereo, and Travis tried to tune the microphone in sync.

"Beck! Still there?" Travis shouted. A cracked response that sounded like a 'yes' strained out from the stereo. Travis' eyes sunk and his voice darkened. "Beck?" He slammed the palms of his hands on the desk, then buried his eyes in those same hands. "Beck..." A dragon, as dead as a frozen star, floating in Travis' mind, spoke wearily so only he could hear.

"_You know you could have saved him. All it took was one more try._" But Travis ignored the freezing dragon, and shut off the screen. The least he could do was put Beck down, and take his misery away from him. Though he knew Beck was still out there, he was on his own for now.

Travis pulled on his jacket, gestured for BIT to follow him, and closed the door as he walked home.

* * *

_The next Cycle; Zek and Travis' apartment, 909 Marrow St..._

Travis looked at the disk, holding it in his hand. His closet was the only place he had to be in private, and Zek knew not to disturb him there, where the heights reached upward into the sprawling tower above. If he wanted one of his few friends and a deceased memory to be caught in history books, he needed to do this. He needed to become better than Beck ever was. And make that memory proud.

'_Farewell, Beck. You may be leaving this world, but you won't be leaving it to a failure. I swear.'_

Travis took out a recoder, one that was meant for disk editing, and made some basic adjustments that Beck recommended. And that would only be a beginning.

'_I will become the Renegade. I'll make sure that I live up to the name you created.'_

The modification was simple. If he wanted to be the Superior Renegade, then he would need a superior outfit. A simple V-shaped border split the suit between the T and the three long, blue circuits surrounding it, in a silvery shade of white. The rest was pitch black, most of the torso circuits gone. His secondary circuitry, on the void, were their former bright orange, shining the opposite of the blue on his white chest.

'_But I'll use every resource in my reach to become better. Make sure this city becomes free. With your name and my actions, I will become Superior. But if I want to be Superior, I can't accept failure. I have to be flexible. I have to be free. No..."_

Travis' suit rose across his body, only a few circuits being replaced. As the "T" shone on his chest, his helmet slid over on cue, sealing forever two things. His identity, and something even more important: his destiny.

'_I have to be Unlimited_.'

* * *

**A/N: So I can imagine how many of you are out there freaking out. You're probably saying, 'Holy Crap, Beck's dead!' This was just an incarnation of Beck's subconscious, meant to temporarily guide Travis to victory. I wanted to make a character with a rough rise to responsibilty, who has to learn to be a leader by himself. I wanted to differentiate from Uprising by making Travis a program without a mentor, and he has to teach himself to become a true hero. So don't go flippin' out that Beck's dead. Because he's NOT. I don't want to give too much away, but he will reappear later on. Anyways, on a lighter not, I'm leaving for a school trip tomorrow, so you won't hear from me until Saturday. Okay, that's not too good either.**

**Oh, and if you don't remember, Heliod, Travis' boss, has a cameo in Tron: Aftermath. Go back to Chapter 24: REvolution. And if you're confused to what's going on, you're going to have to read from Chapter 12 of Aftermath to the Epilogue.**

**Next: Travis' teacher at Argon Institute, a Grid Wars veteran medic who lost his arm, begins to experiment with Codeworm DNA on himself, affecting him in more ways than one. Meanwhile, Travis begins fighting street crime as the Renegade, flashing his new tech as the Batman of the Grid.**


	3. Chapter 3: Law of the Outlands

Chapter 3: Law of the Outlands

Argon City Institution: A place designed to make programs better, to be more adapted to whatever environment that they needed to be in. Though tonight was not a Cycle of studying: It was a night of enjoyment. Travis sat, watching programs walk around campus to their center of enjoyment, thinking to himself.

'_Who ever said college was about hitting the data files and spending all-nighters in a student's personal archives?_" He thought, taking in the view. "_We're all really here to have..._" He looked at the sign and raised an eyebrow in confusion, "_Fun. Fun. Fun. Of course, when I say we..._" He frowned in disappointment.

He wasn't outside, enjoying the Argon breeze or tuning up Light Cycles. He was in a desk chair, in Dr. Trefolin's laboratory, and looking through a window. "... t_hat doesn't refer to mean me. Typically, I guess I'm more of a singular fun kind of guy. Maybe even without an exclamation point._"

"Travis." Travis bolted upright, snapping out of his trance, and turned around. Dr. Trefolin was glaring at him, away from his microscope. "What the hell are you doin'?" Travis shrugged, having no excuse, and swung back to his holoprojector.

"Nothing, sir."

"I hope you aren't wishing to have mindless enjoyment instead of helping me figure out how to replicate User medical abilities and add them to the coding textbook."

Travis barely shook his head, shoving his bluetooth into his ear clumsily. "I'm proud to be helping you, Doc. I was... just about to check the regeneration rate." Trefolin shook Travis upside the head, and moved over to the microscope-viewing hologram.

"You make it sound like this is a search for a video game." Trefolin took a sip of energy, and knocked a hand- prosthetic, and upgraded by Travis himself- against the datapad. "Have I not made clear the importance of this experiment to Grid War veterans?"

"It's not that I don't understand, Doc." Travis sheepishly continued typing, as if doing so would cause Trefolin to vanish into thin air. "I think I can tell you word-for-word what you said." Doc nodded, and Travis began using his hands to animate the scenario. " Somehow, Code Worm DNA can cause their appendages to regenerate."

"And?" Trefolin glared at Travis menacingly, as he leaned back in his chair.

"And... I suppose if programs could do that-"

"About time you got it, kid," Trefolin gestured to Travis, who stood up and looked at the Code Worms scuttling around in the glass case nearby. Code Worms. Found only in the Outlands, where the fiercest worries await a program. "Codimus Lumbricina. If a predator attacks it, tears of a limb, it can escape, and grow a new limb almost automatically." A timer beeped, and Travis rushed back to his laptop. "How's it holding, bud?"

Travis looked at the statistics coming in, and paled. "Coding regeneration is at a stable rate of two to the third power every NanoCycle."

"Users... this is better than I expected." Trefolin looked into the microscope and sighed. "Yeah, it's getting late. Go spend some time with your friends anyway." Travis squinted in uncertainty.

"We... always... work until exactly... 2100 hours." Travis raised his left eyebrow, but kept his left squinted when Dr. Trefolin said confidently, "Not this Cycle." Travis, hesitant about this attitude, scooped up the laptop and bag, exiting the lab.

* * *

Zek was staring at the headquarters of Argon Architecture, which was located about a mile or so from GridTech Labs, and about twelve miles from Argon Institution. Travis walked up and Natalie turned around, sensing his presence.

"So, what did I miss?" Travis asked as he neared his friends.

"Hey, you seem familiar. Uh... Zek, do we know this guy?" Natalie said, lowering her eyelids so that they only exposed half of her eyes.

"Well, I have a roommate about his size and height," Zek mockingly answered, stroking his chin absentmindedly, "But, I never see him very much. He's always studying or working at a place called GridTech Labs."

"All right, enough of that," Travis said, holding up a bottle of energy and taking a drink, "I need to earn my energy cash, unlike you two."

"Well, at least Concept isn't bringing on the curfew." Zek stated, catching a bottle Travis threw him, "I once read stories about the Renegade Era, and it seemed like slavery compared to right now. Just be glad _this_ _Renegade_ isn't out tonight." Travis frowned at how much emphasis and hate was put into the word Renegade, but didn't bring back up the subject of his alter ego.

"So, uh, what kind of fun, fun, fun are we having this fine Cycle?"

"Okay, you got us," Natalie confessed, holding her hands up and slinging her right arm over Travis' shoulder, "Zek has been a bit, er, on the downside lately. We were just taking a view of Argon Architecture Tower, where Miranda's office was."

"Sorry. I wasn't going to bring it up if you didn't." Travis' eyes closed slowly, and Zek's did the opposite. They widened like a cooling trash compactor.

"My Users... you remembered." Zek looked at Natalie with shock, then back at Travis.

"It's been a MylaCycle since Miranda was derezzed by Concept. It's hard not to remember."

"He remembered." Zek grinned, and gripped Travis with enough strength to crush his body. Travis gasped for air, then jabbed two fingers into Zek's

"So, hotshot," Natalie smirked, punching her friend in the chest, "Give the holograms a rest. I'll buy _you_ a shot of energy." She looked at the laptop, and her jaw sagged. "The results... you forgot to give Doc Trefolin the results." She let go and pointed a finger. "Go on, give your boss the results. Hurry, 'cause Natalie waits for no one." Travis rolled his eyes, racing away so Natalie could stop talking in her minor third person.

In truth, he had somewhat intended to keep the results. It would give him an excuse to take some time off and take his evening patrol as the Renegade. His disk, hidden in a secret pocket of his backpack, slid onto his disk, revealing the new upgrades he had made to the costume.

First off, as one of the many modifications equipped to his disk alone, he had added a pair of experimental lenses, created from resources at GridTech Labs. Using information downloaded from his personal archives at his and Zek's apartment, they could scan a program and give a full analysis of said program. Then again, he had to have hacked into the full System Monitor archives to achieve complete records, but he was a System Monitor, albeit a self-appointed one.

The second major modification were microscopic strength enhancement servo-motors that increased his ability to lift by 10 times his normal strength levels. His gloves were edited to release magnetic nano-claws that allowed him to climb any thinkable surface, with a few major exceptions, including circuitry plasma and anything that had to do with liquid. A wing chute was attached to his back while the suit was on, and a pair of retractable grappling-hook shooters were affixed to both of his wrists. All of these applications were attached permanently to the Renegade suit, and would fade away when he changed back into his civilian wear.

'_I hope I'm doing things right for once,_" Travis thought, climbing the wall up towards the roof of AI's current makeshift science center. _'I'm just going to wing it and say that if I'm going to be a Superior Renegade- no, Unlimited Renegade- then I'm doing a helluva good job_.' Travis rezzed in his Light Cycle, taking off down the Arjia Overpass.

* * *

As Travis shoved his bike back into the baton, he looked over Grid Currency Transportation, when his audio transmission signals alerted him to loud bangs, over by the loading depot. Travis leaped over the roof of a building to find a security program, one of the Light Guard from the Argon Security division, lying on the ground. Travis' lens increased magnification by 4 times, showing a large crack in the back of the Guard's helmet, the red secondary circuit cut off by the splintered code. He had been attacked from behind, and was out cold, but alive. Travis sighed in relief, wondering what could have caused a _Light Guard_ to go down.

Ever since the Coalition won the Grid Wars at least a KiloCycle ago, the Light Guard were a small but lethal group of fighters. CLU's remaining Black Guard were hunted down and purified to follow Tron and Anon's leadership. Stretched thin, there were about two Light Guard per city, but were always held up by a backbone of at least three dozen dozen System Monitors, who were not on-par with the Light Guard, but were still dangerous nonetheless.

Light Guard were technically only one force, but were divided into multiple classes, such as Medical Officers, Riot Control, and Security patrols, indicated by the secondary circuits. Travis, knowing the code for Light Guard, suggested the Guard was from Security.

A loud beeping caught Travis off guard. Another audio input, this time two programs in a hostile argument. One of them, caught by Travis' sensors, indicated that the unarmed program was Dr. Trefolin. The other was clearly prepared, using some kind of prototype technology to shield his identity from facial or audio recognition. Travis' helmet followed his hard-wired bluetooth's command, zoning in on the conversation, and his faced scrunched, intent on picking up every word spoken.

"-_Someone talkin' to you, smart guy?_"

"_I was just stating my opinion. That's what vermin are._" Travis' concentrated frown turned into an expression of panic. This was Dr. Trefolin, and when he made scientific metaphors, they were usually insulting. "_They aren't usually pretty, but are in fact a vital part of User World and Grid ecosystems. Vermin, that's what you are. Should be wiped out-_" Travis looked down, to see the perpetrator shove the but of his rifle into Trefolin's chest, the audio giving Travis a clear idea of Trefolin's pain, judging by the grunt he gave, falling onto the sidewalk. The sound of the rifle snapping again prompted Travis to draw of his new in-development stage adhesive bombs.

"_We'll see who's wiped out._" The gunman grinned, as a large cloud of adhesive covered his rifle's barrel, the man firing into empty space to blast it off. The man, who had been hardwiring the armored car before Doc Trefolin's interference, jumped into the van, rezzed the engine to life, and sped down the street. This, of course, did not escape the Renegade, who took off, jumping onto the side of a building and running horizontally across the side.

Remaining invisible until necessary, Travis removed the cloak of shadows, and used a grappling cable to swing in front of the moving Light Tanker, and onto the front, where the gunman gasped in shock. Travis grinned from behind his mask, and leaned into the window. "Hi, are you the shoot-'em-up fest? I'm here to give you a beginner's course in _manners_." The rifle swung into Travis' face, who swung backwards to avoid the shell's impact. Travis' claws gripped the edge of the tanker, which was dodging cars driving in a one-way street.

"All righty, then." Travis shot a cable strip from his wrist, from a rotation carousel in his launcher, and pulling hard. "We'll skip right to the advanced course." The Renegade gripped a lamp post, tying the cable to it and jerking the rear wheels off the tanker. Slamming into a passing Light Tank, the perpetrator rushed away from the crash as an explosion pushed him into a wall, where the Renegade hooked him into a cable and strung him to a window. The Renegade tugged at the rope to make sure he had completed his task, then shot his cable towards another building, rezzed in his Light Cycle, and shot off into the night.

* * *

"So the Renegade is making deals with street crooks?" An Enforcer squadron, along with a prison transport, were at the scene of the crime, as Travis changed into his street clothes in the shadows around the corner. "Well, guess this one didn't count on getting double-crossed." Trefolin, who had regained consciousness, was glaring at the accusing Enforcer, who was scribbling notes in a holopad.

"Didn't you listen to me? Tron saved my life." The Enforcer looked at Trefolin as if he was crazy, and grit his teeth in frustration as Argon Security Force spoke with the on-duty Light Guard a few feet away.

"Of course. Right." The Enforcer, despite lacking a real personality, could as least speak sarcastically, as Travis rushed up to Trefolin.

"Doc!" Travis shouted, running up and eyeing the criminal cuffed and stuffed in the transport nearby. "I needed to give you this!" Without hesitation, Trefolin snatched the data card containing the lab results and narrowed his eyes.

"I thought I told you to go home, Trav," the Doctor growled, reading the results. But then, in a completely random movement of kindness, Trefolin smiled. A smile had a very slim chance of appearing on the face of Doc Trefolin, and this example was very sudden and unlike the Doctor. "But thanks for bringing me the results. You should go home soon."

"Hold up, program," the Enforcer said, gripping Travis' shoulder. "Do you have any recordings of the perpetrator on your disk?"

"Um, I don't think so, except for right now," Travis sheepishly improvised, shrugging dishonestly, "The only thing that I know was that Doc takes this route every night, and I heard firearms going off. I was a few blocks away from here when I heard the shots."

"Did you see the perp?"

"No, not until just now. If I can find anything about him, I'll tell you." The Enforcer nodded, handing Travis a thin holographic business card with the address of Enforcer headquarters.

"See if you can figure anything out within the next few Cycles, and see me about it. Sergeant Barr." Travis nodded, frowning when he saw Trefolin staring at the felon, the only thing between them being a glass window. Travis felt his pupils shrink to the size of a needle as he thought he heard Trefolin's voice glitch. The exact same noise a codeworm made when agitated.

Pretending he didn't see anything, Travis turned around and walked back home.

* * *

"Well, this is it." Zek punched a code into the lock, which clicked and opened the door. Zek swung the door on it's hinges, allowing him, Travis and Natalie to walk into the room.

"Whoa." Only one word could fit the bill that Travis was trying to pay. Boxes were stacked on each other, some towers reaching the ceiling and blocking out light. "This is all Miranda's?"

"Apparently so. And Trav, fix your grammar. It _was_ all Miranda's. But now that I've taken charge of Building Design and Placement, it belongs to me." Travis nodded in understanding, knowing the look of pain Zek held. He knew that, before Travis took action against Concept, Zek and Miranda had had a thing. It was much more stable than most relationships Zek had been in, but at the same time, the couple had some rough moments, like during a disk in TC2001, Zek had played dirty by knocking out the power dampening field on the disk levels. It was Travis who won in the end, but Zek got slapped in the face by Miranda for his actions. And now, in the present, Travis swore he could still see the mark where Miranda's hand made contact with Zek's face.

"We used to come here all the time when we were younger, remember?" Natalie's young face, though still beaten by time, smiled at the memories she could somehow re-picture. "When things were better. We had some good times here."

" Yeah, I bet she really kept onto these memories by hiding them in the drawer." Zek stared miserably at the photo of the four of them that he just found in her desk. Travis' arm was nudged by Natalie's sharp elbow, motioning him to say something encouraging.

"Um.. well, at least you know she cared about you, and these pictures." Travis saw stars as Natalie slapped him in the head, as she walked up to the desk, followed soon after by her victim. "Er.. We'll... we'll help you clean this place up! Who knows, it may be cathartic." Natalie smiled, Travis having earned her approval.

"Oh, all right," Zek said, standing up, "But don't go throwing around too many hundred-credit words, Mr. Travis."

Natalie stared at the mess, and sighed miserably. "Well, it shouldn't take more than two or three Cycles if we all jump in."

"I can help, s'long as I leave in two PectroCycles." Both of his friends glared at him, and Travis raised his hands in self-defense. "Date with an Enforcer."

* * *

_Argon Security Force Precinct 4, Downtown Argon..._

Travis sat in an interrogation room, a single light fixture keeping Travis from just guessing the location of Barr's face. Barr was pacing back and forward, trying to get a clear picture on Travis' description of his involvement.

"So, let me guess this straight," Barr asked, waving his hand, "The Doc sends you home, but you have to give him some lab results. Thus, you come tra-la-laing back to give him these results. But then you hear the gunshots from about twelve blocks away?"

"Yes." Travis had spoken in this same, stoic tone since he arrived at the precinct. Barr was obviously not buying it.

"So you conveniently arrive just as the Perp is nabbed?" Barr's helmeted face came inches away from Travis' nose, as the lights throughout the building cut off. Travis' eyes widened, then blinked as Barr held a flashlight up. "Stay here. Backup power will come up in a few MicroCycles." As Barr exited the room, red floodlights poured over the room. Travis heard Barr quietly whisper, "Officers in distress, floor 5, interrogation center 3." Travis looked over and saw the suspect through the glass separating them, then shot back as the lights cut out in the room next to him. Several screams of terror filled in the MicroCycles that Travis remained dead silent. Travis shot back several more feet as the body of the suspect hit the glass, shattering into cubes on impact.

Travis activated the Renegade suit, rushing out and clinging to the ceiling. One moment he saw pitch black hallways, with seemingly no end, minus a vent tile out of place. The next he saw multiple legs crawling into the vent. Travis followed as two disks careened into the ceiling tile nearby. As he rushed into the vent, he heard Barr's assistant shout. "Two of them, headed for the roof!"

Travis narrowly avoided vent shafts as he clambered through the tight tube of death. The final evidence of that something dangerous had been here was at the shaft's exit. The fan had been torn to pieces, leaving nothing but a massive hole. But the real mind-melt was the shred of a lab coat, stuck to the edge of the shrapnel. The Renegade tenderly picked up the cloth, tucking it in his utility belt.

The sound of a firearm loading overloaded Travis' mind, forcing him to panic as two ASF officers pointed their pistols and activated their disks. "The Renegade! You there! Put your hands up!" Travis did not heed the warning, jumping off the building and rezzing in his Light Bike, mixing in with the traffic below as he changed into his street wear. Travis inspected the torn linen cloth and furrowed his brow. Only a few wore these types of lab coats, and they were all in two general areas.

GridTech Labs and Argon Institute.

* * *

_Next Cycle, Argon Institute, TC2013, 0700 PectroCycles..._

Travis' eyes narrowed even further than last night, as he inspected the note taped to the door: 'Dr. Trefolin has cancelled classes for today. Do not ask of his whereabouts'. Travis grimaced, and raced down the hall. He didn't need to ask from Trefolin's whereabouts; he had a good feeling of where Trefolin was hiding.

Travis' hand reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open. All that remained was a chair, and a hooded figure standing by the window, which, Travis noticed, was in point blank view of Argon Architecture Tower.

"Doc Trefolin." Travis tried to sound as sympathetic as possible. "You... cancelled.. your class. What's going on? Ever since I've known you, you've never cancelled anything." He picked up the papers lying on the table and studied them. "Your experiments were promising. We should continue."

"Yesssss, by myself." The voice came out fuzzy, glitched. Travis wasn't sure that Doc Trefolin was really in control of his own body. "Go home, Travis." Travis lay the notes on the table and studied his hand. Small scales had coated his fingers.

"Your notes. Were you writing last night?" Doc shrugged away, changing to a different window. "Can't wwwrite withhhhout the proper prosthetic upgrades. Know how I lost the hand?"

"You mentioned something about an industrial accident." Travis thought back to the old Trefolin, who always kept a monotone about his research.

"High Fragment explosives round."

"You were involved in Gregor's research?!" Travis sputtered, leaning on the table in shock.

"Of course not. I was studying code worms in the Argon Outlands, when some GridTech folks came with testing equipment. After 20 MylaCyclessss... nobody knew I was there... Somebody at Argon Architecture's Design and Placement division pulled strings... waifer..."

"Doc... you're not well." Travis walked up, but was gestured backwards by Trefolin's hand. It had lost it's fingers, and appeared very spiny from even a distance. Travis walked away, taking the holopaper with him. Closing the door, Travis heard a loud siren-like glitching noise, along with a large blue flash.

* * *

"_I've compared three coding samples: A sample of coding from a damaged microscope, a torn linen lab coat, and now these strange scales I found on a holopad. All three appear to be based on the same genetic pattern: Doc Trefolin_." GridTech Labs held the best areas to examine genetic code, and thus Travis was allowed by Heliod to access the computer archives and submit his own samples in order to increase the size of the already large archives. Travis' recorded voice faded away, and Travis began speaking into his microphone.

"But the genetic sequencing has changed over time to resemble Codeworm DNA. As much as I respect Trefolin and his work, I can't help feeling that his recent mood changes are somehow related to the Argon Architecture waifer-" Travis looked up in sudden panic, looking towards the AA Tower, then turned back to the computer. "Oh my Users." Travis shut off the recorder, saved the data, and rushed out the door.

"Trav!" Heliod shouted, watching her best employee rush out the door. "Where are you going?!"

"I can't talk right now, Heliod!" Travis shouted, rushing down the corridor, "I have something important to take care of!" Heliod sighed and held her breath, not noticing a flash of white, blue and orange. When she looked around, Travis and the flash of light were gone.

* * *

Travis' claws stuck into the wall, gazing into the window of the 80th floor. Zek stood at the desk, oblivious to his best friend (and ironic enemy) staring at the holographic building plans that were strewn about. He knew Argon Arch. had some crazy plans, but nothing like this, including a waifer for a lawsuit against GridTech Labs by Dr. Trefolin. Apparently an industrial accident had taken out his right arm, prompting him to wear a prosthetic made by Travis.

Natalie had left to go see Travis, as she hadn't seen him since last Cycle, and get some dinner with him, leaving Zek to mope at the table. A loud glitching noise caught Travis, and he hid as a large Code Worm, gargantuan on it's own, as it slithered up the wall. A few nanos passed as a loud crashing sound signaled for Travis to jump into the large hole in the window.

He heard a loud screeching noise, as he found three severed legs lying on the floor, cut off of the Code Worm, but kept hiding in the shadows, dimming his circuitry as he ran into the conference room. A loud chopping resonated through the room, as a glitch of pain quickly followed. Travis recoiled at the code dripping from the severed tail of the Code Worm, every drop making more of an expression behind Travis' mask. Travis punched a number into his bluetooth and waited. Finally, BIT gave a "_YES_" to signal that he had picked up. "BIT, I need you to send the final genetic sample I uploaded into the..." Travis fell speechless as the data went straight to his HUD. "Wow. That was fast."

"_YES._"

"All right, don't push your luck. I'll say thank you, but that's it."

"_NO_."

"Oh, shut up." Travis hung up, and as Zek crawled away from the Code Worm, he compared the DNA output from his scanners to the Genetics sample he had just received. The flashing green light confirmed his suspicions.

"Hey, Big, Black and Ugly!" Travis shouted, tackling CodeWorm to the ground. "Chew on this!" Throwing CodeWorm into the window, knocking it out momentarily, Travis dodged a blow from a fire extinguisher. It's holder was none other than Zek. Travis nudged his head and yelled, "Zek, _RUN_!"

Zek remained where he was, holding the fire extinguisher tightly. "Renegade... Why the hell are you helping me?!" The Renegade gasped as he was thrown into the same window.

"Trust me, get away as far as you can! Leave it to me!" Travis was about to say something else as he was shoved out the window by CodeWorm, who hurled as the Renegade punched it in the eye, effectively releasing him and allowing him to shoot a cable at the ceiling. CodeWorm gripped the wall, screeching madly in a glitched voice

"I see I now have your undivided attention," the Renegade grunted, gripping the walls and climbing upwards. "I know the pain you're suffering. You have your arm back, but at what price? It isn't too late to go back; is it, Dr. Trefolin?" CodeWorm screeched, chasing Travis up the spire of the tower. Travis scaled the wall, where he heard Zek's voice say, "Hello, Argon Security Force? We have a small problem."

As the Renegade jumped onto the roof, CodeWorm followed shortly afterwards. A scythe smashed into the Renegade's helmet, crushing him into a ventilation system. The Renegade grimaced as a spotlight shown on them and the voice of an Enforcer shouted from the Light Copter. "Renegade, you and your accomplice are under arrest!"

"Me and him, allies? No way, we just met!" Travis shoved CodeWorm back, and before it could strike again, Travis flipped up to the top of the vent. CodeWorm's hands shredded like paper as soon as the made contact with the moving vent. And they weren't growing back. Travis took the opportunity, firing a grappling cable at CodeWorm, and one at the bottom of the Light Copter. Before Travis could tie the two cables together, the Light Copter took off, leaving the Renegade straining for control of CodeWorm, who was thrashing madly.

"Doc, I know you're huring right now!" Travis shouted over the roaring wind and the noise the copter made. "We'll get you help, I promise! Just stop thrashing or you're going to-" The line snapped, as CodeWorm, or Dr. Trefolin for that matter, fell to the depths of Argon's streets. "-fall."

The Renegade leapt off the Light Copter, seeing CodeWorm lying motionless in the middle of the street, with Argon Security officers framing the picture. Travis gripped the walls, transforming back into his civilian clothes and stating, "Friendly Neighborhood Renegade, at your service," before rezzing in his Light Cycle to speed away.

* * *

"Hey, Zek!" Zek, who was clutching his injured elbow, turned to see Travis and Natalie stepping into his office. Travis squatted as Natalie inspected Zek's disk for medical dangers. "You okay?"

"Well, a little spooked, but other than that I'm fine."

"You need anything while we're out?" Travis' eyes told Zek that his best friend really meant what he was saying, just a look on Travis' face telling him everything. "I was thinking that we could get a pint of energy and bring it back to the office."

"Well, yeah, but I need to think some things over for a bit." Zek grinned, holding up a framed picture of him and three others, one of whom was not present. And surprisingly, it wasn't Travis and his chock-full schedule.

"You got it." Travis and Natalie left the room, before Travis turned around and smiled. "And thanks for not using metaphors to tell us to leave you by your lonesome."

Zek smiled before hanging the picture up. "Yeah, you could also bring some ice for that energy, you know." Travis grinned and Zek waved them out. "Well, shoo! I need to think, and you guys aren't helping right now! Go!"

* * *

"I can't believe Zek is getting his head in the right place." Travis and Natalie walked down to Joltion and 86th, bearing a large tub of energy and a sack of ice. "He's been a bit of a train wreck lately." Travis spoke these words as if they were his dying wish. The last of his mind and soul, but then again, he always lived life to it's extremes. Natalie walked ahead and looked Travis in the eye. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No... It's just that, after all this time, you spend so much time with us, but somehow manage to handle every aspect of your life. It's amazing."

"Well- I-" Travis' sentence was cut short as Natalie leaned up and locked her lips with Travis'. Travis gaped in shock, but maintained silence, until Natalie pulled away and said, "Thanks for letting me do that."

Travis grinned and rubbed his hand against the bag of ice. "Heh, not a problem." As Natalie walked away, Travis sat there, contemplating what had just happened. When he finally came back to his senses, Natalie was already several blocks ahead, and Travis sprinted to catch up faster.

'_See, that's the thing about life,_' Travis thought as he caught up with Natalie and slowed his pace, '_You never know what's going to happen. I guess that I may be fun, fun, fun after all. Even without the exclamation point. And Zek... well, I think he has a ways to go still, but with what he's been through, I have to say he's making process. Until then, all I can do is support and continue being a better Renegade_.'

* * *

A/N: So, there we are. I hope this chapter takes us away from the whole "Beck's conscious died" controversy, if I did something wrong. I'm hoping to create a character who has to lead himself as a hero, and balance his social and business lives. If you guys really like Beck (And I'm sure you probably do), I hope I didn't offend anybody. Anyways, now with all the apologies, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm back from school trips, did awesome in the last few Cross Country meets.

I found my love for chocolate milk once again, and I have homecoming to look forward to (depends on if I get a date or not). Regardless, everybody stay awesome, and thanks to PrincessKai317 for reviewing on Chapter 1.

**Next: The Renegade begins hunting down a supersonic thief stealing priceless artifacts, who is defending a neighborhood scheduled to be torn down by Argon Institute. This job is hindered by one small factor- The programs of Argon think the villain is the hero! And while Travis struggles to catch this criminal, he's stalled by the people of Argon's fight ****_against_**** him.**


	4. Chapter 4: Borderlines

Chapter 4: Borderlines

"If Argon Institute wants to tear down the Unironto Spire housing project, then the programs who live there should be compensated!" The young girl, who was shouting messages of warning to nobody in particular, had a large crowd of raucous programs in front of her, holding signs that displayed even further hateful messages. "93 percent of those programs work right here on campus! Where will they work if they have to look for a place to live?!" A few meters away, Travis sat, taking pictures with his built-in helmet-cam.

'_You know, she's got a valid point,_' He thought to himself, '_And I guess a lot of your wild-eye student radicals would agree. And some... well, _some_ programs just love the idea of a good protest._" Travis retracted his helmet, looking at the scene with his own eyes. '_I just wish I could say I was either one of those categories. But here I am, a genius college freshman with a job at one of the most influential technology companies on the Grid. Yet I'm still on the outside world and on the receiving end.'_

Travis looked to one side of the coded terrace and saw two young women laughing and giggling a short distance away from the large crowd. One had short blond hair, carrying only a pale blue secondary circuit pattern with her bolder white. The other girl, the one with soft brown hair and white and purple circuits looked up and waved shyly. Travis sheepishly grinned and waved back. '_And, as is usually the case, I find myself looking at Natalie. If I were hired to take photos of her for the local news... oh, who am I kidding, I'd take that job for free._'

"Excuse me." Travis was pulled out of his thoughts by a janitorial program, who was holding a vacuum cleaner in his right hand. "I have to vacuum there." Travis moved aside, and under the loud noise the cleaner emitted, snorted humorously. The janitor, whose chocolate-brown skin slightly tinged a hint of red, scowled at Travis' reaction. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Travis answered, replacing his helmet-cam with a mobile one, strapped to his waist. "It's just kind of funny that you had to sweep that exact particular spot. Everybody else is on break."

"Everybody else is out there protesting."

"I... guess you don't go for that hay-rah-rah stuff either." The janitor leaned on his vacuum, and kept his stoic glare. "No, I don't go for kicking programs from their rightful homes."

"So, um, you live in Unironto Spire?" Travis looked the janitor in the eye, who in turn smacked Travis' face away.

"Why? Are you feeling sorry for me? Can I move in with you and your... partner?" Travis retracted his helmet and turned around as the janitor sighed and swanked away. "Didn't think so." Travis sighed as Zek and Natalie walked over to him.

"Hey, Trav," Zek said, putting a datapad behind his back, "Still harassing programs with that verbal weapon known as social ineptitude?" Travis raised an eyebrow, to which Natalie strolled over to Travis and leaned on his shoulder. "If you _mus_t know, Zek is busy practicing to be a captain of industry." Zek grinned and held his weight on a lamp post adjacent to him.

"Oh, I'll have you know I have a meeting with Miranda's former board of directors next Cycle," He said proudly, "And I'm going to find out what's going on with the campus protests." Natalie made a sound, one that signaled an epiphany, and rested her head on Travis' neck. "Well, I think it all makes sense now." Travis looked at her, a look of reluctant skepticism. Natalie shrugged and threw a hand into the cold air before her. "Zek's a management guy. He's no fun in a protest."

"Natalie, protests generally aren't about fun." Travis slid his baton into his hand, as Natalie cupped his chin with her hand.

"That's because you haven't been to one with me!" Natalie giggled, pecking Travis playfully. She then leaned forward and smirked. "So, where to next?"

Travis grinned, then unwrapped her from his grasp. "Me? Well, Heliod wants me to take research scans of some ancient technology from the Grid Wars era. They have them on display at Downtown Museum of Mechanics." Natalie smirked, then brought her face inches away from Travis' mouth. "You can't run away from me forever, Trav."

* * *

"It is a pleasure to add these treasures to our temporary collection." The curator of Argon Museum of Mechanics stood valiantly at the steps of his home, gesturing to the hundreds of ancient artifacts, most of them military models, stowed in tidy display cases at his side. Travis was one of the many programs stationed in a large, maintained crowd; the only thing was, they were blocked off by Enforcers and barricades. "The jewel of the trove is this TC1314 Recognizer control console." Travis' eyes, along with dozens of pairs of others, widened in surprise, but he quickly hid it and maintained his giddy and childish demeanor.

"Hi, I'm Travis, from GridTech Labs!" He shouted, holding up his camera, inserting a clean slate of glass into the photo slot. "Can I get a shot of you with the console?" The curator smiled approvingly, as he moved in to get within the frame, with Travis waving vertically to move to the left. Travis took the shot just as a program, dressed in Heavy Sentry armor, careened into him, and smashing Travis into a duracrete pillar. A red flare filled Travis' eyes as the color moved the console from the display case, now derezzed to bits, and into the superhuman arms that belonged to the program.

"Later." One word passed before the Heavy Sentry dashed out of sight in the span of several NanoCycles, leaving a bewildered Travis to grit his teeth and activate his Light Cycle, chasing after the thief.

Out of eyeshot, Travis rezzed in his Renegade Suit, observing the man in Heavy Sentry armor. Despite the fact that he was wearing said Heavy Sentry armor, which would usually slow down the proram wearing it by disturbing levels, was in fact moving almost as fast as Travis' Light Cycle. The concept of this idea disturbed Travis, who had seen once-classified documents for these kinds of models. The idea was from the Grid War era, but was scrapped with the defeat of the Occupation by the Coalition. They were rumored to still exist, but were hidden until something happened to the Coalition's grip.

Pushing his bike back into a baton, the Renegade shot a cable upward and got a bird's-eye view, nothing much changing the fact that this was just upgraded Heavy Sentry armor. As fast as Travis was able to climb onto a building, fire another cable, and catch up, the program skidded to a halt at 322nd and Gigabit, forcing three cars to swerve and avoid the walking calamity before them.

"Wow, talk about road rage!" Travis said to himself, swinging back around and racing towards the figure. Then he stopped and ducked. The red lights had activated, and had summoned a large Light Tanker to do it's dirty work. The Renegade slid inches away from the metal plating, and turned around, eyes widening in shock at the civilian programs in the path of the Tanker.

Shooting a cable upwards, the Renegade threw five adhesive bombs, forming a large net and stopping the Light Tanker's rampage. As Travis turned around, he saw the Heavy Sentry racing up the building and into a neighborhood Travis suspected had something to do with the whole event: Unironto Spire.

Firing a cable and scaling the wall, the Renegade raced to where he had seen Heavy Sentry's trail lead off to. Only problem was, when he arrived, there were only civilian programs there. Scaling down the wall on a cable, his presence caught the attention of the locals.

"Hi." Travis had to say only one word before a barrage of frowns bombarded him. "Anybody seen a thief? About six-foot-one, moves fast, looks like a Heavy Sentry from the Grid Wars?" This, like any of the Renegade's questions, provoked an angry response.

"Who do you think we are?! We don't deal with crooks!" One female program shouted.

"Yeah, we're just trying to keep our homes upright." Travis looked at his nano-claws and sheathed them, which didn't really help much.

"Whoa, cut me a little slack, would ya? I'm trying to catch a bad guy!"

"The only bad guy I see here is _you_!" One after another, the civilians started throwing things at him. The Renegade dodged every item, with differing variables of ease. As a can smashed into Travis' face, he rezzed in his Light Cycle and raced off, growling to himself.

"Some programs just can't catch a break." Travis winced as a can hit his shoulder, prompting him to yelp in pain.

* * *

_Next Cycle, 909 Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment..._

"_I'm speaking from Unironto Spire, soon to make way for an expanded Argon Institute campus._" The GridCast, filmed live at the scene, had caught the attention of Zek and Travis, which didn't help that the latter was trying to move the projector to a preferred angle. "_Residents here recovered the stolen treasures from Argon Museum of Mechanics. Now they're using the reward money to fight against the campus._" The reporter turned an Enforcer, and butted the headset against the officer's rear side of the helmet. "_Officer, do we know how the stolen Recognizer console came to be here?_" The Enforcer turned and spoke to her.

"_We aren't positive, but the Renegade was seen in the area. The residents chased him away._" Travis grimaced, far away enough that Zek wouldn't notice, and continued fiddling with the projector.

"_Witnesses say perhaps the console was stolen by a program in Heavy Sentry armor, who moved like a jet._"

"_Well, those witnesses saw an entirely different crime scene. Remember, the Renegade works alon-_" Travis blinked in mutual surprise at Zek pressing the mute button. "Hey, Zek. What gives?"

"Uh, Trav? Wouldn't it be easier to move if you, oh, I don't know... turned it off?" Zek gave a good point, but Travis maintained a fail-safe excuse to hear ranting about his alter ego. "Except maybe for the fact that I'm... watching?" Zek drank his glass of energy and stood up from the lounge chair he was in.

"Trav, everybody knows the Renegade's a crook. No news there." Travis moped for a few seconds and placed the projector gently on a table.

"Zek.. I get that you think the Renegade had something to do with Miranda's death..."

"Well, you know what Trav? He did. If the original Renegade hadn't shown up in Argon, then Concept wouldn't have chosen to come here first. And Miranda might have been saved." Travis never really thought of it that way. But Zek had to know that Travis' other side was innocent.

"I was at the museum when that Jet Sentry stole the console. I think he gave it to the Unironto Spire folks for the reward money." Zek leaned on the couch and sipped his drink.

"Ah, so you mean a Robin Hood kinda thing?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure he wasn't wearing Robin Hood getup." Just at Travis' perfect timing, Natalie strolled into the room as he finished his sentence.

"Who wasn't dressed like Robin Hood, and why would you know?" Natalie cut in, skimming her hand over Travis' cheekbone. Zek replied with, "Jet Sentry. Trav thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood good guy." Travis sighed and pointed his index finger downwards.

"Zek, can you play lazy for a second?" Zek, willing to bend his methods, flopped down on the couch beneath him. "Well... It's a stretch... but, I'll try." Travis continued ranting his complicated equations, stating, "The screen should be at a 22 degree angle for optimal viewing performance."

Zek took a drink and grunted. "Let me tell ya, these costumed nuts are all a menace if you ask me." Natalie smiled and rested her head on Travis' back.

"If he purposely _did_ help all those programs, he gets my vote. Agree or disagree?"

Zek laid his drink on the table and frowned. "Natalie, lay off the quad shots, would ya?" Patting Travis on the shoulder, he opened the door. "Holoprojector looks fine, Trav." Travis stopped fiddling with his current distraction and looked up.

"Wait, where're you going?"

"Told you, Argon Architecture board meeting." As Zek walked out, Natalie turned around, and laid her chin on Travis shoulder.

"So, where do you come out on all of this?" Travis stopped moving cables around, and looked his friend right in the eye.

"Well, everybody else expects the Renegade to obey the law. Why not Jet Sentry?"

"Don't you ever, oh I don't know, just go with your instinct?" Travis turned around to see Natalie right in front of him. Sheepishly grinning, he held his grip on the counter. "Uh, sometimes... how about you?" Natalie breathed hoarsely in Travis' face, opening her eyelids halfway. Gripping the holoprojector, she edged it just enough that the angle was exactly what Travis wanted. She smirked, then rubbed her hand against his cheekbone.

"Always." As she walked out the door, Travis sighed and curled up on the floor, embarrassed by his part. After several MicroCycles, he slid on his jacket and pulled out his baton. His shift at GridTech was coming up, and he didn't need Heliod bashing him on top of everything.

* * *

_Argon Architecture Tower, Present Cycle..._

Zek stared at the thirteen members of the board staring back at him, trying hard to keep the contest up. They had been sitting here for ten Micros, yet nobody had bothered to speak or even mouth a word. Finally, Zek gave up.

"Um... so, we're here to discuss the AI Science Center building?" At that moment, the room erupted into incomprehensible chatter, some warring banter, some peaceful agreements. Only two of the thirteen remained speaking to him.

"Zek, we know that Miranda wanted a new science center built on AI," One of them, a male, said, folding his fingers in intertwining. The other, a female, spoke up as well.

"Now that ArgonTechure has convinced AI to bulldoze the Unironto Spire, her last wish can become a reality." Zek rolled his eyes, and placed his hand, face-down, on the table.

"I knew that a HiloCycle ago. Why am I here?" The male and female board members smirked and turned to their boss. "We'd like you to make the announcement." Zek furrowed his brow, and leaned inward. "This.. wouldn't have anything to do with the campus protests, would it?" The two board members gaped in surprise, as Zek continued his accusation. "An AI student announcing a demolishing on controversial property sort of makes it go down easier."

"Well, you've certainly earned your position, Zek." The female nodded while speaking and continued. "Miranda would have seen the reprecussions, but she would have seen the real good coming out of it." She turned and snapped. Two security programs came in, bearing Concept's shared yellow circuitry. Zek's brow line deepened.

"I thought I said those guys weren't allowed on the premises." Zek growled, as the two Enfrocres saluted, handing the yellow box to their employer, and racing out the door. "I've had issues with their methods, and I'd rather not have to experience those methods on their own."

"Very well, we'll talk to Concept about his security measures. In the meantime," the male board member opened the box, revealing another box with a glowing stick of coding. Zek knew Travis would recognize the technology at a moment's notice, but last time Zek checked, he wasn't Travis.

"I'm not vidding it."

"This is a 2nd Generation Light Cycle." Zek's eyes widened at the age of the artifact, it's gleaming white edge reflecting his evident shock. His eyes then slanted to the floor. "It used to belong to Kevin Flynn, and then your predecessor."

"Miranda... never showed it to me."

"She was afraid you might not share her immediate interest. She planned to show you, but her... untimely demise interrupted those plans." Zek's eyes lifter up in confusion.

"She.. she told you that?"

"Th-the important thing is," the female clerk intervened, placing the baton back in it's box. "She wanted to give away the baton. To auction off. A great way to kick off the new science center campaign."

Zek's miserable frown flipped upwards as he realized that Miranda still did care, even if it meant only selling a baton. But there were still other matters to discuss...

* * *

_Unknown Building, Gigabit and 84__th__ Street, 6 PectroCycles later..._

_Bzzzzt!_ The camera's static faded away as Travis, in his Renegade suit, masked for nobody to spy on him, began ranting to nobody but the camera. "So go with me here. I run around Argon saving lives, and I'm a menace. Jet Sentry steals a fortune in ancient coding and he's... what, instant hero?" Shooting a cable at the recording button, he moved the camera to right below and continued speaking.

"You know, maybe I need another costume makeover." Pulling the camera up and placing it on a small kiosk, he zoned in on the screen, holding his index fingers close to his head.

"I'm... the Renegade." Turning off the camera, a traffic camera feed alert went off, and the Renegade rushed to the edge of the roof. A shape similar to a Light Cycle, even imitating the Light Ribbon, was weaving through traffic. Travis took this as a signal, and rezzed in a Light Jet, of 1st Generation, that he had found within Beck's former hideout.

As for his own hideout, Travis really didn't have any ideas, save for two highly unlikely locations. The first was an abandoned prison just off Argon Quay, but programs came in and out of that outlet, and Concept's forces had set up a blockade nearby. The second option was the ruins of his old home, but that idea was scrapped with the addition of Concept's forces nearby killed off his surprise. But focused on the big picture, Travis' main priority was catching Jet Sentry. Obtaining a headquarters would have to wait.

Hacking into Jet Sentry's data feed and GPS systems, Travis was able to deduce the location of Jet Sentry's next hit: Argon City Archives. Though there were private archives bestowed to programs by default, those archives were incomplete. If anybody wanted a complete set of archives, they usually had to find archives like these. Somehow, Travis' brain couldn't put together why Jet Sentry would go to a place he didn't need to steal from. One nano later and he smacked his head in realization. Tonight was the display of several archive chips from the restricted archives, only on display to mock the programs who couldn't even preview them.

Landing his Light Jet and pushing it back into the baton, the Renegade watched as Jet Sentry shot his tractor beam, smashing the glass and pulling wires and hard-drives from the display case. Two Argon Security Force officers, who had been standing guard, flinched as the wires caught one of the two. Lightning coursed through his body, and the guard screamed loudly as Travis fired a cable, modified to insulate outside electricity, and yanked the wires away.

The officer's partner lifted his comrade, and the Renegade pointed in a random direction. "Get him out of here, and call for help!"

Jet Sentry growled, clashing his teeth together. "You..." The Renegade fired a cable, pulling the hard drives away when the wind blew them into one place. "Sorry, but you forgot your library card, buddy!" Sadly, Travis' quip didn't stop Jet Sentry, who persisted in tugging on the cable, his tractor beam gripping Travis' cable as well. The Renegade braced himself as Jet Sentry sped off, dragging his opponent for the ride as well. Travis' eyes closed, and he felt the cable go limp as Jet Sentry increased his speed by about half his original velocity.

The Renegade stood taller and huffed playfully. "No manners! What is it with these programs?!" Rezzing in a Light Cycle, Travis took off, following Jet Sentry into an abandoned street, following into an abandoned mannequin factory in an abandoned building. Travis tsked and muttered, "Shame. Pity. So many colorful words, and I only have time for one. Let's see... how about abandoned." Shrugging innocently, the Renegade derezzed his bike, and scaled the wall, climbing in through an open window. A flash of bright green circuitry cut Travis off as he moved his fist towards the light. A loud crack filled his audio receptors, as he opened his eyes to see Jet Sentry sprawled on the ground. The Renegade activated the claws on his foot, gripped the wall, and held out his hand.

"Give. Me. The hard drives." Jet Sentry kneeled, breathing heavily.

"Who's gonna miss some musty old data chips?"

Travis folded his arms. "Not for us to decide."

"So you blindly enforce the rules,is that it? While I'm out there trying to help those programs." Travis changed sides of the pillar he was gripping. He then activated his lenses, trying to detect a coding signature, but he couldn't find one. And the suit's jetpack was slowly charging, and at high risk of an overheat.

"Uh huh, like the pedestrians you almost hit with a Light Tanker? No, not them. You must be talking about the ASF guard you nearly electrocuted."

"You know what I think?" Travis shrugged, and kept his aching arm stretched outwards. "You're jealous. You wish those programs liked you the way they like me." Travis' brow furrowed, his eyes transformed into slits, and his frown deepened. His arm reached further.

"I'm not going to ask twice." At that moment, a large explosion activated, knocking Travis back into a wall. Not willing to risk the deresolution of another program, Travis used his cable to bring Jet Sentry to him by the legs. As he picked up the suit... all that remained was a holoprojector, programmed to show Jet Sentry's face.

"Empty..." Travis growled, turning to see an emergency exit standing ajar. Travis punched the suit and changed into his civilian wear. "I hate it when that happens!"

* * *

_Next Cycle, Argon Institute, 0800 PectroCycles..._

"Okay, settle everybody!" The protest leader, who had been rallying a small yet suitable crowd the previous cycle, had brought reinforcements. Dozens of programs from Argon Institute had gathered outside the main building, and were holding up signs with disturbing messages. "Thanks to an anonymous donation, the Unironto Spire defense fund is up to 1 million credits!" Multiple programs hooted in celebration, cheering for Jet Sentry. Travis and Natalie looked on in suspicion, as Zek hung in his own shadow under his favorite lamp post.

Travis turned to Natalie and shouted over the raised roar of the crowd. "You know, this hero of yours sent three Enforcers and an ASF security officer to the Gallium MedCenter! They're in a deep reboot!"

"An Enforcer on a high-speed chase runs over a civilian, Trav! How is that any different?!" Travis growled in frustration, pulling at his hair, and sunk down onto a bench, Natalie following his final action.

"Two wrongs don't make a right!" Turning to Zek, Travis wore an expression that a only desperate programs would use. "Little help?" Zek sighed, stood up, and walked into the lamp's light, his face masked by shadows.

"Listen, there's something I need to you guys to know." Natalie nodded and began shouting to cover Zek's conversation. When her share was done, she sat down and listened in. Travis initiated the speech. "What's up?"

"Argon Architecture! They're the reason that AI is bulldozing Unironto Spire!" Travis panicked silently as a male program eyed them menacingly, then tapped his friends. Silence slowly fell as Zek continued shouting absentmindedly. "Miranda's company convinced AI to bulldoze-" Zek glanced at every program staring at him. "-Unironto Spire..." Everybody glared hollowly, eyes drilling eerily into all three of them. Zek's eyes shrunk to the size of needles. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

"This is just what I'm talking about!" The protest leader shouted in rage. Travis felt her voice crack like a lightning whip. And they were the animals to tame. "The powers on campus making deals against the lower circle!" Everybody else shouted, throwing their signs and other miscellaneous items at them. Travis ducked, picked up a sign, and began shielding himself and his friends from more incoming projectiles.

"We might want to get outta here!" Travis said, Zek and Natalie complying and dashing for cover. Travis stayed behind, glaring at the janitor, who had been watching them only a MicroCycle, had returned to vacuuming debris off the floor.

Travis was snapped out of his spatial trance by Zek, who shouted at him from a fair distance. "Trav, get a move on!" Travis stared for a nano, then obeyed and raced away.

* * *

_Travis and Zek's apartment, 909 Tribeca..._

Travis stared down at Zek, who was oblivious to his friend staring down at him. Said program walked out of the living room, using Zek's distracted mind as an advantage, running into his room. His Renegade costume covered his street wear, as his nano-claws gripped the tower walls in their apartment. Gripping his baton, the Renegade rezzed in his Light Cycle and sped towards a place he had a feeling he would find answers: Unironto Spire. And the only reason he was going there to search for clues was because he had looked up their residential inventory. The janitor, Wyler, lived in that district, and his reaction to Travis' questions led the Renegade to believe he was behind at least two of Jet Sentry's crimes.

Travis pushed his bike back into a baton, as he saw the program exit Unironto Spire and head towards an alleyway about two blocks from his current position. The Renegade fired a cable, chasing Wyler stealthily across the rooftops. From his position, Travis could see a cluster of Heavy Sentry circuits under Wyler's hood.

Eventually, Wyler took a sharp turn and entered the alleyway, the Renegade turning with him. A shady figure in business attire lay waiting with a heaping duffel bag of credit chips. As Wyler closed in, the man tossed the bag at him.

"_It's all there, minus my commission_." Travis grinned as he held a recording device outwards, taking note of the entire encounter. "_What's next?_"

"_A Light Bike baton. A 2__nd__ Generation Light Bike baton. Worth four million credits, and all I have to do is show at the Argon Architecture press conference._" The shadow-laden man chuckled, as Travis glared to the left with much incentive.

"_That could be a problem. I have some easy scores for ya-_"

"_No. I want the baton. What it stands for._" Travis rolled his eyes in empathy. At least Wyler had a moral code. He just had a wrong way of helping the programs in need. Even Travis had to admit that if Jet Sentry became a hero, then this entire fiasco wouldn't be happening.

"_You could be a wealthy program, kid. If you didn't keep helping these programs..._" Travis made a rude gesture, shaking his head.

"_I just do what needs to be done. And if these programs aren't able to protect their own homes, that means they're stupid for making me a hero._" Travis recoiled in shock at what he heard. Jet Sentry had deceived somebody who had doubted him all along, if momentarily. If he could manipulate dozens of programs long-term, they would never believe what the Renegade would say. Recollecting himself, Travis watched the stealthy man depart, as Jet Sentry unraveled his cloak. Travis threw a glass bottle at the alleyway entrance, catching Jet Sentry off guard, and the Renegade cornered him from behind.

"There's a word for programs like you, Wyler." Travis unsheathed his nano claws and activated his disk. "_Criminal._" An Enforcer Light Tank rumbled by, the Renegade ducking to avoid sighting. The moment the Light Tank caught sight of Jet Sentry, a blast of energy careened through the alleyway and striking near the dumpster Travis was hiding behind. The resulting explosion forced the Renegade under the dumpster, which smashed against the wall and sounded an alarm.

Travis caught sight of Jet Sentry attempting to sneak away, as three Enforcers popped out of the tank's hatch. One of them shouted, "Two of them!" Jet Sentry raced away, as another murmured, "Negative. Must have been a shadow." The third one pointed at Travis.

"It's the Renegade! Call for backup!" Travis crouched, ready to defend himself. The three Enforcers drew their disks, yellow light gleaming from their edges.

"No! You've got the wrong guy!" Travis shouted. The Enforcer didn't flinch. "Drop the credits and put your hands up!" The Renegade complied, hurling the duffel bag at the lead Enforcer, who collapsed harder than an athletically inept kid in a jungle gym. The remaining two tossed their disks with equal force, both missing as Travis scaled the wall and disappeared.

* * *

The Renegade stared as the protests continued the next Cycle. Unfortunately, they weren't celebrating Jet Sentry. They weren't even celebrating at all. In fact, they were jeering. At the wrong program. The leader of the protest shouted into her microphone loud enough that Travis could have heard them a mile away.

"Jet Sentry's out there making a difference! The Renegade's just out for himself." Travis, changing into his street wear, frowned as he entered a window from the roof of AI ChemLab. Walking through the hallway, still tolerating the raucous noise, Travis opened the door to Chemistry, where the first thing he heard in the soundproof lab was Natalie and Zek arguing over Professor Iylah's voice.

"C'mon, Nat. You knew something was going to be built on that property. I'm just trying to make it worthwhile." Natalie raised her eyebrow in genuine surprise and sarcasm.

"I'm sorry. I'm not sure I heard right. Trav, be a dear and tell me Zek called science worthwhile." Travis nodded in confirmation, as he took a seat next to her. Zek shrugged as Prof. Iylah called on Travis. "Travis, do you know that valence solution to these factors?"

Travis wasted not a second as he answered with genuine ease. "S-Oh-Two with a polyvalent ion." He turned back, and Zek continued.

"Okay, how about you guys both come to my presentation?" Zek said, folding his arms with his final say. "Look, I'll put up extra security and make sure both sides of the argument are heard."

Natalie stroked her chin thoughtfully, before looking up. "Well, in that case..."

"Great!" Zek said, writing down some more notes. "And you, Trav?"

"I'd love to," Travis said, "But I might not be able to attend the whole thing. Heliod's got me working on some new Light Jet mods."

"Don't worry. The whole thing isn't going to take long. I need to set some things up though, so you guys should arrive around 1800 PectroCycles." Travis nodded, as the bell rang over Prof. Iylah giving the assignment for the end of the Cycle. But right now, he needed to get some information to Argon Architecture. And this was far more important.

* * *

_Argon Architecture Headquarters, 1800 PectroCycles..._

"Well, well, well," Travis said, adjusting the lens of his Renegade mask by 20 percent. "If it isn't one Jet Sentry. Though the suit looks cool, he's not getting a free pass this time." Travis leaped downwards, changing into a black Light Suit that appeared to resemble a blazer and dress pants, white circuitry making out the borders. His orange secondary cicruits had lined up into a single diamond-shaped figure, a tie, and his boots remained the same.

Travis quietly snuck out of the alleyway, just to find a large crowd, double the size of what had occurred previously. Though half of the monstrous crowd was employees of Argon Architecture, Travis felt like throwing up. Winding himself through the crowd, Travis spotted a seat near the front row, with the time he was due there and when he would leave. Shrugging, the chair's recipient lay down, almost immediately interrupted from a light recharging by a smack to the head. Travis looked up and saw Natalie sitting next to him.

Though it didn't look quite like Natalie. Instead of a basic Light Suit, Natalie wore a soft black dress, bearing white and velvet-purple circuits across the edges and abdomen. She had her hair tied back into a bun, and wore a sweet smile on her lips. "Hey, Trav. Zek's up in a couple of MicroCycles. Wonder what they're gonna talk about."

"Probably gonna cover up any loose details about the Unironto Spire campaign," Travis bluntly put in, waving his hand. "All I can say right now is that the whole protest committee needs to simmer down a bit." As if his words spoke magic, Zek rose to speak, and before he could say a word, a protestor shot rude insults directly to Zek.

"You suck, Zek!" Zek sheepishly grinned, pointed his index fingers at her, then managed to get his speech out.

"I had a prepared speech, but my friends Travis and Natalie-" The two mentioned programs gaped at each other, before staring back at their speaking friend. "-showed me how a campus like AI should grow. Which brings us to Kevin Flynn." Zek pulled out what Travis suspected was an ancient and invaluable 2nd gen Light Bike baton, and he continued to speak. "Kevin Flynn drove this bike across the Grid, and saw the possibilities." Travis' head flared as an audio tracer he had attached to Jet Sentry picked up some noise. "_And so do I._"

Almost instinctively, Travis stood up and raced to the stage. Before Jet Sentry could grab the baton, Travis' exact timing allowed him to smash the criminal into a wall. During the chaos, and making sure nobody was watching from inside the AA building, Travis changed into his Renegade attire, and throwing an adhesive bomb as planned. Jet Sentry fell into the net, with Travis clinging to the wall above him.

"Give it up, Wyler." The Renegade snarled, activating his disk.

Jet Sentry stood defiantly. "How do you know the ASF won't take you down too?" The Renegade shrugged, impatiently fidgeting, but kept his voice tone stable.

"I'll take my chances."

"These programs like the way _I_ do things in Argon! Not you, Renegade." Travis began moving downwards, cornering Jet Sentry as he noticed Argon Security Force officers sprinting towards them.

"Those programs?! Wow! I thought they were the ones you said were stupid, for making you a hero!" As the protesters began yammering to each other in confusion, even hearing one shout 'what?' Travis ducked below, and cornered him from all sides. "You did say that, didn't you Wyler?"

When Natalie, Zek and four ASF officers surrounded him, Jet Sentry raised the baton in a threatening stance. "Just stay back, or this little piece of history is history!"

"Go for it." Jet Sentry gaped downwards to see the Renegade clinging effortlessly to the wall by his feet. "It's a fake." Jet Sentry recoiled. "That's bull!"

"The Renegade's right." One of the ASF officers held his stance, but failed to maintain his silence. "He tipped us off in advance, and set it up with the Argon Architecture board." Jet Sentry remained calm for several Nanos. Nobody expected him to fling the baton towards the protesting crowd. The stick crashed into one of the protesting programs, knocking her out cold.

"I'm not goin' down! I help those programs!"

Travis ticked in reluctance and sarcasm. "Yes, and you did it with such good feelings too." In yet another surprise move, Jet Sentry activated his tractor beam and pulled a hostage towards him.

"Natalie!" Travis shouted, holding out his hand. As Jet Sentry shot out of sight, the Renegade fired a cable in a desperate attempt to not lose another friend.

It took MicroCycles just to catch up, but Travis finally fired a cable and managed to latch onto Jet Sentry's outer workings. Thinking fast, Travis fired the cable at a building, then another at the opposite side. Eventually the cable strained, as Jet Sentry groaned. "You don't know what a desperate program might do!"

"In that case..." The Renegade deactivated the jetpack, allowing Natalie to elbow Jet Sentry in the face. The Renegade caught her, and smiled behind his mask. "Wow, nice punch." The slingshot Jet Sentry was closing in. Travis turned to Natalie and pointed. "Um.. I'd stand back if I were you." Natalie complied, walking away cautiously, as Travis waited and narrowly allowed his fist to connect with Jet Sentry's face. The program collapsed on the floor, dragged slightly by the cable.

Natalie walked up, watching as the Renegade narrowly slipped away. Several MicroCycles passed before the ASF officers from before arrived on-scene, and several more before a familiar voice rang through the air.

"Natalie!" The recipient of the call turned around to see Travis jogging towards her. Wrapping her in a tight embrace, Travis breathed heavily, sweat pouring down his face.

"You ran... all the way here... just for me?"

"Well, yeah. I don't my best friend kidnapped by a psycho in Heavy Sentry armor." Travis cupped Natalie's cheeks, and pulled her in for a long, drawn-out kiss. When they pulled apart, Natalie's cheeks were scarlet, and she gripped Travis' elbows.

"So... what's going to happen to Unironto Spire?" Travis looked up, and frowned sourly.

"Zek decided to donate the baton. The real one. He's creating a relocation fund." Natalie pulled her head into Travis' chest, and Travis rested his chin on the crown of her head. '_And, I guess that makes it a happy ending... right?_'

* * *

A/N: And this the end of the "Renegade's Return" Arc. This chapter begins the end of one arc, and begins another, "Sibling Rivalry". This arc details Travis coping with his new opponents as the Renegade, and the pressure of his new double life, all the while trying to maintain his romantic relationship with Natalie. I'm hoping you've enjoyed this arc, and will stay around for the rest of the story.

Next: Travis and Natalie attempt to go out on a date, but Travis' duties as the Renegade complicate matters, forcing him to lie about being sent on a business trip for GridTech Labs. Natalie's learning of the truth leads to chaos, and Travis must do everything in his power to fix his social life.


	5. Chapter 5: Crossfire

Chapter 5: Crossfire

_GridTech Labs, 0900 PectroCycles..._

Travis' eyes felt no reflex action as the fusion welder drove itself into the small device before him. As he had always believed, GridTech's resources were unlimited, and that was something Travis would have to depend on. As long as he worked here, he had whatever he needed to assist himself as the Renegade. The fusion welder stopped spraying blue flames, allowing Travis to lift the goggles from his eyes and rub his lids against them in exhaustion. Though this new invention was small, it was state-of-the-art and, as such, required much development and time before mass production.

"BIT," Travis said, his tiny assistant floating over to him. "I need you to get Heliod in a few MicroCycles. I have an older invention I wanted to show her." BIT complied, dialing Travis' bluetooth frequency to Heliod's phone.

"_What is it, Trav?_" a crackled, female voice filled Travis' ears, as he leaned back in his chair. "_If you have something to say, you'd better say it quickly._"

"Really? Usually you let me take my time." Travis chuckled as he closed his eyes. "What's goin' on over there?"

He could only imagine the lecture Heliod would give him later on curiosity, but for now she remained on topic. "_Remember those fragmentation explosives that Gregor was developing about a half a HiloCycle ago? The Renegade stole them and gave Concept a little surprise. And they traced the explosive residue back to GridTech._" Travis frowned and pinched the bridge of the nose. This was all his fault. If he hadn't played hero, then this whole issue wouldn't be "_What did you need me for?_"

"I have some new tech for you to approve of." Travis leaned back further and sighed. "I think you'll like this one."

"_You know, I think I can trust you to approve your own tech. You can go home now._" Travis thanked her, disconnecting the frequency, put a few power packs into his newest creation, then pointed to his small helper. "BIT, I need you to come with me. I found a new hideout with some genuine usefulness. And I need you to help install the new computer systems."

"_YES._" BIT followed Travis out the door, and to their new base.

* * *

"Well, this is it." What stood before Travis and BIT was a raggedy old warehouse. Several metal code plates had worn off of their hinges, about ready to plummet down to Argon City below. BIT turned to Travis, who looked at his little helper and shrugged. "_NO._"

"Yeah, I know it isn't in the best condition, but this hasn't been touched since the Grid Wars even 'll get the proper materials from the Argon Architecture warehouse a few MicroCycles from here, and we'll need to install new lighting and electrical systems. Think you can route the power to what lighting is still in there?" The simple response was a "_YES."_

Travis pressed a button, allowing the warehouse doors to open wide enough for two programs at a time. The inside, having been preserved from the testaments of time, had not fallen to shambles, but was still very dusty at the worst.

"I'm thinking of creating a basement area, to hold all of our computers and equipment," Travis explained to BIT, holding out a blueprint sheet he had stolen from Zek's desk at AA and drawn plans on. "Top floor will contain all data feeds and heavy machinery. We need to finish the hollowing of the ground or Concept and his forces'll notice us before we complete the project." BIT nodded and activated a console, bringing up a display of the power routings in underground systems. Travis pointed at several conduits, and mapped them into a triangle. "See if you can drain some power from the energy plant and make an isolated wiring. That way, they won't suspect if they experience a power outage, and they can't trace it here." Travis got back on his legs, and BIT attempted to follow.

"Sorry, buddy," Travis said, pulling on his jacket. "I have something to do tonight. Once you're done creating a power coupling, and building a basement level, head back to GridTech. Use the back door, I don't want Concept's mooks catching a BIT with my information in it." BIT turned around, doing as his master instructed, as said program rezzed in his Light Cycle and sped into the city.

* * *

_GridTech Labs, 1000 PectroCycles..._

Travis grimaced as his bluetooth rang in his ear. Picking up the call, Travis calmly answered with a stoic "Hello?"

"Hey, Trav." Natalie's voice came into his ear, causing Travis to nearly drop the fusion welder on his foot. "_Did I interrupt something?_"

"No," Travis lied, attaching electrical wiring to the invention he had created. All that remained was powering it, calibration and testing. "What's up? Did you want to talk about something?"

"_Just wanted to make sure we were still up for our date tonight. We still good?_"

Travis smiled, then walked over the electrical console nearby. "Absolutely. It's a date. Um, I gotta go, I have some electrical work to do and I can't use my phone while doing it."

"_Okay, well, see ya._" Travis turned off his phone, and began applying voltage to the wires. Several MicroCycles passed before Travis, who had been working on the next model, released the new android from his electrical torture and used a remote switch.

"Bingo!" Travis shouted, both in joy and caution. The android, which stood on four, strong legs, began to split away from it's main system, the single leg splitting into two, then four, and finally, four miniature versions came from the leg sockets of the main core. Travis shouted in victory. "I did it! This'll fix everything for the Renegade. Now, I'll have every corner of Argon under my surveillance!" Reassembling the bot, Travis kneeled before it, giving it his first command. "I need you to follow my design. See if you can make a hundred more of yourself. As for myself..." Travis wiped his brow, huffed, and walked away as the first model of the Renegade Patrol Android scuttled off to make more of itself.

"...I have a date."

* * *

Travis, wielding his Renegade costume, drove his Light Cycle up the slope, still having time for his date to show up, several PectroCycles at least. Breathing heavily, Travis brushed dust off of himself, changing into his civilian wear. Not willing to lose the cargo he had stolen from one of Argon Architecture's warehouses, Travis didn't rez the bike back into it's baton. Instead, he edged the Light Cycle to the door of the base, and unclipped the low loader from his bike.

"BIT!" Travis shouted, signaling the doors to open. Walking into his new base, Travis was stunned at what he saw. However BIT did this, he was certainly impressed. The ceiling was sealed, with no evidence of time's decay, and every light fixture was dusted and working fully capably again. A few meters away was a large circle of the now-leveled floor, with the Light Roadster from Beck's old hideout parked dead-center. Refitted with current-Cycle technology meant to synchronize with Grid Wars era tech, it was more of a Travis ride than a Renegade escape vehicle. As the Renegade, he would have to stick with grappling cables and Light Cycle. Travis smiled in awe at what he saw.

"I'm impressed, BIT." Travis turned to BIT and gave an approving nod with his toothy smile. "We managed to turn an old warehouse into a state-of-the-art base of operations." BIT just sat there and his owner frowned. "Okay,_ you_ renovated the warehouse."Travis pointed to the low loader just inside the base. "We'll move that into the basement. I have another project: I need you to construct a main power hub, and organize them into charging ports like these blueprints describe. You're doing great, buddy. Keep it up."

* * *

_Argon Light Rail Terminal 4B, 1500 PectroCycles..._

Travis sat on a three-program bench, leaning his displaced jaw on the palm of his left hand. He was delayed, and Natalie was late by a full PectroCycle. For some reason, he felt like she was hiding something that she didn't want him to know.

Finally, the last train for the Cycle pulled in on Track 5, and Natalie stepped out. She had changed her outfit yet again. Her Light Suit was somewhat replaced by a one-shouldered dress, the same circuitry patterns woven from her basic Light Suit onto her dress and the gloves borne on her lower arm and hands.

"Well, there you are." Travis grinned, and stood up. "I was wondering if you had ducked out on me." Natalie smiled in an awkward way, that made it look as if she was trying to unsuccessfully hide something. Travis frowned in response. "Uh... you okay?"

Natalie's sagging eyes popped back to attention. "Ah, sorry. I just got back from practice. I completely forgot about it and had to go back to change."

"Practice?"

"You know, the Disk Wars team? I've been on it for a while, remember?" Travis shrugged, somewhat reminding himself of Natalie's social life. "Well, I use it to take out my anger so that I don't vent it on you." Punching Travis in the arm, she giggled silently. "So, what are we doing tonight? I see you went casual, so that means we're doing something fun tonight." Travis looked at his biker jacket, which somehow made him look like a younger Flynn, and grinned.

"Well... you know me. I don't usually plan things." Natalie raised a playful eyebrow, and Travis raised his own in turn. "But, I do know something fun to do..."

One moment, Travis was standing in the middle of Argon Square...

* * *

... The next, he was standing right before Argon Port, holding a Light Jet baton.

"Uh, you sure you don't want to change into a Light Suit?" Natalie leaned in and gripped her boyfriend's shoulders tightly.

"Trust me, I've done crazier. Even while wearing this dress." Travis grinned, giving her a classic, cocky smirk. Before he rezzed in the Light Jet, he gave her a fair warning. "Don't say I didn't tell you so." And anything else he might have added was drowned out by the sudden whirring of the Light Jet engines, as it screamed into the sky.

"What did I tell you? Pretty cool, huh?" Travis smiled faithfully as he noticed Natalie gazing downwards into Argon's depths. The programs below them glowed like CodeWorms, scurrying to their needed locations. Natalie smiled and cupped Travis' cheek. "It's incredible." Her lips met his, the fire in Travis' mind igniting into a firestorm, and almost causing him to smash the wing of his Light Jet into a departing commercial Light Jet. Yelping in giddy shock, Travis laughed so oddly a hyena would think he was crazy, as he pushed the Light Jet into a baton, catching Natalie before either of them hit the ground. His back took most of the hit, allowing them to skid across the roof of Zek's apartment building.

Natalie sighed contently, placing her hands on the ground and pushing her lips into Travis'. As they pulled away, Travis smiled with an equal amount of satisfaction, then leaned upward in shock as his bluetooth went off in his ear.

"Trav here. What's up?" The warning signal, programmed into one of his Renegade Patrol Androids and BIT's emergency beacon, were beeping into his ear. "Okay. I'll be right there." As Travis turned off his bluetooth, Natalie allowed him to stand up, then made him help her up.

"So, what's with the big alert?" Travis sighed and tightly gripped her shoulders, quickly making up an easy lie that she would easily swallow.

"GridTech needs me there for another major project. One of our co-workers had some illegal work stolen, and the Renegade's hiding while we take the hit." Natalie sighed heavily, and hugged Travis softly. "Well, it was fun while it lasted." Travis smiled, and stroked her cheek as he walked into the stairwell. "Maybe we can do this again sometime." Natalie winked, and solemnly frowned just as Travis closed the door.

* * *

_Renegade's Hideout, 1700 PectroCycles..._

Travis raced into the base, sitting down at the desk chair he had installed in the Hideout's basement. "What do you have for me, BIT?" Bit plugged into a console and pulled up a hologram, showing at least a hundred Renegade Patrol Androids plugged into charging consoles, and uniquely linked to a different patrol station. Travis nodded in satisfaction. "Okay... I like what I see. Just need to upload their patrol routes, and... done! Argon is now completely under my surveillance, whether Concept likes it or not." Turning to BIT, he placed a datapad down on the desktop. "I've uploaded a code that will release them in a PectroCycle. Make sure you upload a code that'll send them back to this location within two PectroCycles of placement of core split, and they'll be completed." Travis stood back up, and transformed into his Renegade outfit. "Head on back to GridTech. I'll go fight some street crime, and meet you back at the lab." BIT stated "_YES_" and floated down the rocky cliffside towards his duties, while Travis raced onto his own, eventually firing his cable and scaling Argon Architecture's headquarters.

Travis stood atop the huge building, grinning under his helmet. "_Beck only had two eyes. Even though he only had to fight Tesler's forces, he didn't think that the streets below could hinder his strikes. Tesler's forces could be tipped, by programs who disliked him, or just wanted him out of Argon._" Standing up, the Renegade looked down, and saw a group of thugs making off with suitcases full of credits. Firing a cable, the Renegade swooped downward and grappled one of the thugs with his legs, throwing him into another of his comrades. "_But while Beck only had two eyes... with the RPAs, I'll have eight hundred._" Though he was thinking to himself, his confidence somewhat dwindled as he snagged another thug and threw all three to the wall with an adhesive bomb.

"_To his credit, he _did_ manage to do a pretty good number on Tesler's troops, even without taking down the thugs that held him back_." As he smas_hed an alarm-laden window, Travis rezzed in his Light Cycle just as the Argon Security Force arrived. "But I have a medical specialist friend at GridTech Labs, who always said that unless you target the disease, the symptoms will never fade._" Travis smiled as he drove towards the next crime scene his patrol androids had picked up. "_So, while Beck only targeted the symptoms of his problems,_ I _will strike the disease!_" As he watched ASF chase away another gang of crooks, he groaned in anger. "Ah, well. Guess ya can't beat em all. Renegade Patrol Units. Plan Unity Eight: Initialize." Plan Unity Eight: Locate group of suspects, wearing a mask badge of any criminal organization. Of course, Travis intended to head back to GridTech and take a break. He just needed to make sure he was prepared to speak to his chest rather than his wrist. As long as it didn't drive others crazy...

* * *

_Next Cycle, 909 and Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment..._

Travis collapsed on his bed, breathing heavily in exhaustion. It had been a long night capturing criminals, and he was covered in cuts and scrapes. It only took a few MicroCycles to capture every wound that had appeared on his body and quickly heal it. He then tuned into the RPA channel and checked the status of all hundred units. "Well, about a quarter of 'em sighted targets this cycle that I couldn't get." He activated the comlink. "All units with missing suspects, reroute facial recognitions to ASF precinct 5, and put them on Priority 3 alert." A loud whirring noise signaled their compliance. "Awesome. Alright then, onto work."

* * *

_GridTech Labs, 0800 PectroCycles..._

Holding a wrench, Travis punched a button on his newest invention. A green light emanated from the edges of the center-top square of the "T" in his Renegade outfit, which was now a cube of incredibly thin height.

"Good. Now to edit the Light Cycle." Travis clicked open the baton and activated the recoder nearby. "Well, I guess these systems are in tip-top shape. May just boost the speed and braking systems a little.." A few minor clicks later and Travis closed the grid lines in approval. "Okay, now I'm just plain bored. Maybe I'll help the others in the main lab." Walking out and leaving BIT in his lab, Travis walked into the main labs, gripping his recoder. Heliod walked up and smiled when she saw Travis strolling into the area.

"There you are, kid." Travis gathered all of his attention and faced his superior. "I need your help. There are Enforcers wanting evidence that we didn't support Gregor's research. I know what you're thinking, but all we knew was that we were funding some kind of mystery project until when the Renegade showed. I need you to collect some and report back here with it. They're willing to take some time, so don't feel rushed."

"I'll find Gregor as fast as I can," Travis affirmed, rezzing in his Light Cycle, "I'll make him talk." Heliod nodded, and watched as Travis sped off into Argon's depths.

* * *

A lone program sat at the table of Resolute Bar, sipping energy incredibly slowly. He was the only patron in the bar, casually hiding from nothing except his own co-workers. Oh, and an entire army of Enforcers and Concept.

Before he could finish his first and only glass, he was interrupted as a disk slid into the table. A white disk. And that was something you didn't see in public very often. Gregor looked up to see a pair of lenses, and a black-and-white clad program glaring at him.

"Hi." The Renegade, whose facial expression Gregor couldn't see, was actually looking unthreatening. "Mind if I join you for a drink?" Gregor's eyes, having shrunk to pinpricks, returned to their normal size.

"Um... yeah." The Renegade snatched a glass of energy and sat down.

"So. About your high fragmentation bombs. They came in handy, and I'll just say thank you. But I need you to confess to GridTech and Concept's forces about the experiments you did within the walls of GridTech Labs." Gregor spit out his drink, watching as the Renegade rubbed his lenses with his sleeve.

"Are you crazy?! If I do that, they'll focus on making me an example! They'll go after you!" The Renegade collapsed his arm and grumbled in annoyance. "Besides, I didn't even get the materials from GridTech! All I got there was the funding! I swear!"

"If you confess, you'll know you're doing the right thing. If you don't, well, I'll tip off the authorities myself. And by authorities, you know I'm talking about Argon Security Force. Seems I've had a better rep with 'em since the Jet Sentry incident. But anyways, you need to help your co-workers. If you don't confess to them, Concept isn't afraid to derezz every single program at GridTech until something comes up." Gregor sighed, then stood up.

"Look, I don't want programs derezzed anymore than you do." The Renegade copied Gregor's motions, slowly readying to take action. "But if I go into that lab, then I might get derezzed. I'm sorry, but I just can't." The program bolted out the door, leaving Travis alone in the silent club. Unless, of course, he counted a Renegade Patrol Android hidden on his waste. Travis didn't even bother to look down at it.

"Unit #97. Did you get it?"

"_Affirmative. 100 percent of conversation visually and audio recorded._" Travis grinned behind his mask. "Excellent. Transfer data to Hideout and continue sweep of the area."

"_Affirmative._" The RPA unit crawled off of it's creator's waist and scuttled into the shadows, as Travis rezzed in his Light Cycle and raced towards the hideout.

* * *

"So, tell me Travis. How did you get this footage?" Travis grimaced as Heliod observed him with her lenses. She was good, and had backed him into a corner, both literally and metaphorically.

"Well, the Renegade tipped me off, so I went to the bar and caught the entire conversation on tape."

Heliod glared at him suspiciously, then walked off. "It's good, then. S'long as we have the evidence to clear it, we don't need to raise questions about how it was obtained. Good work." As she strode away into the mess of Enforcers and engineers, Travis sighed. If he was going to figure out the last piece of the puzzle, he needed to figure out where Gregor got his materials. And all he had to do was look at the explosives.

Travis walked into his personal lab, locked the door, and placed some shrapnel from Gregor's bombs in the scanning tube.

"BIT!" Travis shouted, and his little helper came bolting around the corner. "I'm initializing a scan. Focus the array on the materials and where they're most commonly found." BIT somehow did something resembling a nod, and accessed the terminal. Travis' eyes widened when he looked at the massive number of materials in that one shred of metal.

"Uh, computer." Travis spoke to his personal laptop, which was listing down at least a hundred elements. "List down the materials listing to the materials from highest to lowest in quantity, and search the location of the highest yielding material." A soft clicking noise followed and the computer spoke in a monotone, female accent.

"Highest material percentage is a compound of Carbon Fluoride, a material most commonly located in veins in the CodeStream Nexus of New Arjia." Travis sighed in defeat, smacking his desk in a silent rage. New Arjia was at least two Cycles, and he would have to do investigating for three Cycles, and the return trip would take at least two more. And he didn't have an excuse to explain to Natalie why he was headed there. Unless...

* * *

Natalie sighed in exhaustion. Managing a nightclub wasn't easy, even with about ten others helping out. She walked out of the main dancing area, and into the single colored room that she lived in. Noticing the blinking orange light, she pressed the glowing voicemail button. Travis' voice soon followed.

"Hey, Natalie, it's Travis." Natalie sunk her eyebrows downwards in distrust. "GridTech sent me outta town for a MylaCycle. Ya know, business. I'll be back soon, and I'll try to call you. Love you, bye!" Natalie sunk onto her bed, and frowned. Her voice illuminated the circuited lights around her.

"A business trip?! Before the end of the Cycle?! _To where_?!"

Taking the closest train, she exited near GridTech Labs and walked into the lobby. She had a feeling she knew what was going on. The receptionist for the Cycle, Ginger, looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Natalie! Travis isn't here right now, have you checked his home?"

"Actually, I.. um..." She had to make something up, before Ginger realized what she was playing into. "I- uh- I had to duck out on Travis last Cycle, and so I was able to pack together a batch of energy materials. Could you ship them to wherever GridTech sent Travis on his business trip?" Ginger frowned, looking at the screen in front of her, and looked back up.

"I'm sorry, but Travis wasn't sent on a trip. Are you sure you heard him right?" Natalie was walking out the door when Ginger asked her that question, but she didn't bother to turn around.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

* * *

_Two Cycles later, New Arjia..._

With all of the white that New Arjia struck against the pitch-black Grid, Travis' void-colored Light Suit stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a gleaming mess of white, almost nothing changing the color to black in a single speck of the city. On the other hand, his Renegade disguise was now partially black, designed to be a chameleon in Argon's dark. And then it would take too much time to create a completely white Light Suit. So Travis just had to play cool and try to blend in with the tourists from across the Grid.

"All right then," he said to himself, itching to use his baton, "I need to find somebody who would know where all these materials came from. First idea, check with the locals. The shady ones'll be a start." Travis hid in an alleyway, changing into his Renegade outfit, and watched for anybody whom he deemed suspicious. Eventually, one stepped into his line of vision. Firing a grappling cable, the city was white enough that nobody noticed him disappear into the alleyway. Two glowing lenses automatically told the gangster who it wasThe program shuddered as his face went right up to the helmet of the Renegade.

"Hi. I think you'll find I'm very merciful. That is, of course, when I get something I want." The Renegade dropped the program on the ground, and using the shadows as his mask, unraveled the white helmet and drank a bottle of energy. "Let's get straight to business. Do you know anybody who would sell common materials to engineers at skyrocketing prices. Or at least somebody who would know?" The program shuddered in fright, then kneeled downward. Travis frowned. Looking closer and delving into Beck's memories told him who this was. A gangster Beck had fought as the Renegade was now in New Arjia. And now he was the cause of the GridTech controversy. "Wait... I remember you... you know something that I want to! _Talk_!"

"But... but..."

"_TALK!_"

"Okay, okay... I only know that there've been a gang of programs lurking around the codex mines lately. They've been saying they have to mine it for a customer." Travis growled, ready to derezz the gangster, but quickly stopped himself.

"I know that you know more than you're letting on... but I won't pressure. I only ask of this." The program on the ground nodded and cowardly, and Travis let go of him, allowing him to collapse on the ground. "Tell those programs I don't want to cause trouble and that their customer no longer requires their assistance. And if they continue, that I'll be back." As the Renegade slunk back into the shadow, he rezzed in a Light Jet and flew off into the cloudscape, hoping that Natalie wouldn't be too upset.

* * *

_909 Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment..._

Travis sighed as he slid the card key into his apartment door and pushed open said door. Inside, he found most unexpected and inconvenient thing waiting in the living room. Natalie stood there, arms folded in front of her chest, fuming with narrowed eyes. Travis grinned, trying to hide any signs that she might pick up on his Renegade identity.

"Uh, hey, Nat!" Travis grinned as he closed the door. "Didn't expect to see you here! Listen, I just got back from work, and-"

"Spare me." Travis grimaced as Natalie stabbed her index finger into his chest. "I know that GridTech didn't send you on a business trip this past MylaCycle. Where were you? Out with another girl?"

"Natalie, I went to New Arjia for a MylaCycle! Do you really think I would take a two Cycle trip to New Arjia to spend three day and then come back? But it's a personal thing." Natalie's eyes narrowed even further.

"Not good enough, Trav. I'm your girlfriend. Speak up."

"There are things I do that... **help** with my job. Only Heliod knows about them. Nobody else." Natalie shied away and Travis walked up to his bedroom, but as soon as he saw Natalie following him, he kept the door open. "If it's any comfort, it's not something bad like smuggling. Just a personal matter."

"But you just can't keep dragging me along like this! It can't go on any longer." Natalie sat on th bed and folded into a fetal position. "I... I can't be with you. It just isn't working. And soon it'll pull us apart for good." Travis frowned, then sat down with her.

"I get that, but right now I know that you're a person who always guesses her way through life, and always turns out right. So tell me..." Travis leaned inward, not violating a two meter bubble, but close enough that Natalie could hear him whisper, "... What's your gut tell you right now?" Natalie sighed, then slowly burst into tears. Travis watched in pain as the amber pearls that were her eyes constantly dissolve and reform into wavy diamonds of black and brown.

"That you're somebody good... and sweet.. and kind..." Travis silently observed as she shed tears onto her lap, not able to control them any longer. "... and... oh Users, Trav. I ruined this for us both. I wrecked everything." Travis eyes shallowed up in subtle alarm. Scooting closer to her, he gripped her hand tightly.

"Natalie? Honey, what happened?" He looked into her eyes, trying to focus them back into the solid shape he loved so much.

"You're never going to forgive me." Travis watched as Natalie tried to cover his mistakes in vain, mistakes he knew only he could fix. "Don't say that. It'll be alright. I'm sure it's not.." Travis stopped mid-sentence, not knowledgable in this matter. "Um... what did you do, exactly?"

"I did something stupid... when I learned you lied, I was so angry... and I got a tattoo."

"Okaaay... you got a tattoo.. what kinda tattoo?" Natalie grimaced, then held up her disk, made some quick changes to the top, and placed her disk back on it's dock. The stomach area of her Light Suit peeled away, and Travis recoiled in shock. "Users..." What he saw was the "T" of the Renegade suit engraved on Natalie's hip.

"See? Awkward, huh?" Travis shook his head and placed their hands on the bed. "I figured I'd get a Concept tat, but I changed my mind at the last nano. I hope this doesn't..." Travis moved one of his hands to place his index finger over her lips.

"Natalie, listen to me." He moved his lips closer, and they intersected. "It doesn't matter if you did that. In fact, truth be told, I actually kinda think the Renegade's doin' a real good job with Concept." Natalie sniffled, holding together a faint smile. As Travis pushed her onto the bed, he smirked with mischief. "Oh, and another truth... that's one awesome tattoo." And as her eyes closed when her lips crossed paths with his, Travis stealthily fired a cable at the light switch.

'_You know, things might actually get better now_.' Travis couldn't see in front of his face, but he knew where this was headed. '_Both as Travis... and the Renegade. A girl, a great best friend, an awesome home. Let's just hope this luck keeps going the right way..._' And as Travis and Natalie slid under the covers of the bed, Travis tried to only think about what he had been programmed to do. But this... this was a far better thought.

* * *

A/N: And that's another chapter for you! I hope it's not that weak, because when I was writing, I felt like a few sections were pretty cheesy and weak. Anyway, I'm still keeping up with my six-day uploading schedule. Here's to more chapter on time!

On a secondary note, I have almost finished the second chapter of Sibling Rivalry, and the sixth chapter overall, which is coming up in six days. Hope to see you guys then!

Next: Just as his social life comes back into alignment, Travis begins losing contact with his Renegade Patrol Android units, and upon finding their destroyed remains, deduces their destroyer as a rookie yet crafty cat burglar known as Longshot. Back as Travis, however, he realizes something about Longshot- she's Zek new girlfriend! Meanwhile, Jet Sentry and Gregor start forming a team to take down the Renegade, backed up by Concept himself.


	6. Chapter 6: Kill to be You

Chapter 6: Kill to be You

_Renegade's Hideout, TC2013, 1300 PectroCycles..._

The doors of the hideout creaked open as the Renegade walked into the base. BIT had gone back to GridTech, ready to design a new power transfer coupling as Travis took his spare time fighting crime. Walking into the hidden lift, Travis took off his helmet and sighed in exhaustion.

"Well, that goes into another log entry. Three more criminals caught this Cycle alone than last time." Travis spoke to himself for no reason as he slid onto the couch he placed in the living space. "And all of them were off my regular patrol routes." Typing in the log entry, he lay back and grunted, looking at some statistics. "Since I became the Renegade, I've captured four times as many criminals, at three times more efficient. And somehow, I'm still holding my life stable." Tossing the tablet onto the space in front of him, he leaned up and checked his RPA live feeds. "Let's see... Unit #54 has nothing, Unit #61 has nothing, Unit #96 is initiating Plan Unity Eight... Wait... what's with Unit #4?"

This was nothing short of a shock for Travis. From the time these protocols were initialized, and the creation of the RPA units themselves, none of the RPA units ever lost power before recharging. But right now... Unit #4's screen had gone static, with the words "_Unit disconnected-unknown system failure_" in bright red letters on the lower left corner. Travis frowned, typing in a coded password to override any hacking systems. An error message lit up next to the previous note, and Travis decided to pull up the final footage of Unit #4a. Pulling up the video, the Renegade watched in curiosity as a black-clad figure smashed it's fist into the photoreceptor of Unit #4a.

"Well, whoever did it obviously doesn't want to be caught. And they're good at hiding the evidence. Except for that I can track the last known location of the missing RPA unit." Travis typed in a coded sequence and frowned. "Huh. The Unit was destroyed in the High-class district, but the signal it emits is coming from the suburb skyscrapers. They just lured me right to their base. Oh, well. I bet it can wait 'till next Cycle. I'll just save the location, and go there tomorrow." Travis yawned, changed into his civilian wear, and rezzed his Light Cycle in to head to his apartment.

* * *

_Next Cycle, 30 and Barrow, 0500 PectroCycles..._

A flash of black swung across Argon's rooftops, as the bearer of these blurs leaped with masterful grace and beauty. One of the Renegade Patrol Androids was in the area, sending an endless amount of footage to it's creator, but the figure dodged the Android, fired a ascension line at the top of GridTech Tower: A residential hub for the most wealthy in Argon, and it wasn't like they let visitors in through the front door.

The program grinned as she pressed a button on the the side of her helmet. A green circuit blazed with fury, and as she swiveled her head, the laser emanating from the circuit followed it, creating a circle large enough to fit a body through. Tossing the glass to the streets below, she climbed in, deactivating the security alarm, and proceeded to stalk the apartment for anything valuable. And what she found, and what she took, would surprise any program who got a glimpse of her theft: a cable hologram award.

"Best dressed?!" The program sassed, sarcastically coughing. "Please. That chick had hips the size of a mountain." Throwing her prize into a backpack, she smirked, tipping over a fragile vase into the laser-guarded floor below. "Heh, catch me if you can." As she made her escape, over the blaring of high-frequency klaxons, she looked up and saw a fist meet her nose.

"So, you're a cat burglar, is that right?" The girl snarled as she saw a white and black light suit glaring down at her, with white, blue and orange circuits adding on more pressure. "Well, I'm not much of a cat person myself." Drawing his disk, the glowing white outer edge burst to life. "Woof." As Travis lunged, the burglar smashed her face into his helmet, sending him crashing into the window. Travis gripped his chin in pain, watching the girl slide down the plexiglass wall.

Travis leaped from the hole before the guards could spot him, and landed right underneath the escaping criminal, using his claws to dig into the glass.

"So, can I ask what you're doing at least?" Travis joked, having cornered her in a good spot, too high to jump, but too high to climb back up. "Come on, you know you want to tell me. Is there a sudden need for a paperweight, or is the black market giving a discount sale for stolen cable holonet awards?" Travis shot back as a fist went at him, then looked back at the girl, who was in a downward kicking stance.

"First of all, a marble, black-and-white light suit?" The Renegade looked at his costume and frowned at the thief. "You might want to rethink that. Second, not everything's about money, sweetheart. If it's worth something to them, it's worth something to me. And third-" Travis yelped as a foot met his helmet, glass shattering from his lenses and conveniently missing his eyes.

"Aw, man! I have to make new lenses now!" Travis cursed as he swung after her, firing cables to try and keep up. As he made progress, gaining ground with every flick of the wrist, he gaped at where she was running towards: the AI Science Center construction zone. Grimacing at how badly Zek would discredit the Renegade, Travis shook off the thought, instead leaping for her and missing. A lucky cable shot pulled her helmet and slammed her onto the ground. The Renegade looked up to see the program's face: short, trimmed black hair with a thin purple strip running down the left hairline, and a light chocolate skin tone.

Travis grinned, taking a picture with his helmet-cam to identify her later on. Before he could release himself from his inner mind-delving, his train of thought derailed into a pool of acid as the program slashed at him with a fist's worth of claws. Travis grit his teeth and punched her backwards, as a new helmet regenerated where the old one once was. A backflip later and Travis found himself chasing her again. "Wow, I think she needs a nickname. Maybe... Longshot." He knew it was a pretty irrelevant name, but for now, it worked. A green laser caught his attention as it struck a thin wire bearing a metal girder. The line snapped, sending the girder plummeting towards the traffic below.

"Aw, dammit!" Travis shouted, leaping downwards to catch the girder. Instead grabbing the cable clamped onto the girder, Travis fired his own cable at the crane, gasping between the force of stopping and the girder pulling his body in two different directions. Travis looked up to see Longshot wink at him, and she blent in with the shadows, fading away even from Travis' thermal coding scanner.

"Okayyy... that was weird..." Travis looked down, at his Light Suit, and then shouted out to nobody in particular, "...And this is _so not a marble Light Suit_!"

* * *

_Next Cycle, Argon Institute Atrium, 1100 PectroCycles..._

"Oh, gimme a break." Travis flicked the switch, showing Natalie the newspaper article as she gave him a large cup of energy. The headline, reading "Longshot Strikes!" was the first thing her eyes made contact with. "You've gotta be kidding me. These holopaper companies read too many comics." Natalie shrugged, taking a sip from her own drink.

"Where's Zek? I thought he was going to honor us with his presence today." Travis grunted. He would see Zek, who always told him he was going out, and wouldn't see his roommate for Cycles on end. And when he did return, and Travis asked where he had been, Zek would blow him off. This wasn't the happy-go-lucky program Travis knew, and he was going to solve this one.

"Y'know, I don't know where he goes. He says he's going to the archives. And there's two major holes in there; one, he doesn't even know where it is; and two, if he somehow found his way to an archive by luck, he isn't just one to plop down on the floor and stay there for a MylaCycle."

Natalie looked up, frowning innocently. "Do you think we should be worried?"

"Worried about what?" Both programs started as Zek clapped each on their shoulders. Natalie smirked and took another drink.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe your new MylaCycle length disappearing acts?" Zek took a cup of energy and sat down.

"What? You were afraid I was running up a bar tap the size of the User World debt?"

Travis grinned as he closed the holopaper. "Well, it's not like you couldn't afford it. So, where _have _you been anyway?" Zek's eyes brightened at the mention of his disappearance.

"I know this may be a shock, but I... met someone." Travis and Natalie stared at Zek, then at each other, and back at Zek, before bursting into fits of laughter. Zek's smile morphed quickly into a frown. "What?! What's so funny?!"

Natalie started calming down, just enough to speak clearly. "Wow... who's the lucky babe of the MylaCycle." She burst into laughter again, as Travis finished his current fit. "It's like.. they have an expiration date stamped... on their forehead." This caused them both to erupt violently with laughter, while Zek looked on in stoic melancholy.

"Guys, I know this is crazy, but... I actually like this one." Just as the sentence ended, so did Travis and Natalie's laughing. Natalie was the first to react.

"I don't think he's kidding." Travis nodded in mild agreement. "I don't think he is." His lit-up eyes sunk inwards as he pointed a finger at his best friend. "Wait a sec. If you're so hot on this one, how come we haven't met her? What's wrong, do you think we're goin' to embarrass you or something?"

"That's just it!" Natalie smirked, pointing at Zek as well. "We're not good enough for her!"

"Well, that's true," Zek sarcastically deadpanned, "But I was thinking of all of us getting together one Cycle to have some fun."

"Sounds tasty," Travis grunted while leaning backwards, then sat upright. "Can I just ask one question?" Zek nodded. "Who are you and what have you done with Zek?"

"Now, if you keep that up, I won't let you meet her. Just shut up and be ready by 1500 PectroCycles." As Zek walked out of the Atrium, Travis and Natalie frowned, then looked at each other in a disturbing display of sync.

* * *

_Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 1500 PectroCycles..._

"So, what's she like?" Travis sat there, in the living room of their apartment, drinking from a bottle of concentrated energy.

"She doesn't really tell me much about her past. I know she lives uptown somewhere." Zek was stirring around a pot of energy, trying to blend it into a more purified blend.

"Does she go have a job? How old is she?" Natalie asked, an evil grin spreading across her face. "Ooh, maybe she's from the Grid's origin days and that's why he doesn't want us to know!"

Zek glared at her, not noticing the pot overheating. "Guys, enough with the third degree humor. OW!" Zek pulled his hand away before he could further harm himself with a literal third degree burn. Natalie grimaced as she pulled Zek away and jammed a lid on the pot.

"Don't worry, man. We're just teasing."

"I know, but cut me a break!" Zek was frantically opening and closing the cabinets of the apartment kitchen. "I'm just a little nervous! A little slack, if you may."

"Aw, it's okay, bro." Travis reopened his bottle, wearing a neutral expression. "We promise, we won't swallow with our mouths open, or spit when we talk. Don't worry, we won't do anything that would ruin your potential happiness."

"Thank you." Zek exited the room, giving Travis and Natalie some alone time, with Travis walking over to Natalie, who was adding the final methods to the purification.

"This is a new one." Travis said. "It's like we've never seen this side of him before. I know that he acted like this before Concept came into town, but it's been a HiloCycle already. It feels like it's been forever since I saw him so happy."

"I know." Natalie bit her lip as she turned off the heater, and pouring the drink into a pitcher. "He's been such a train wreck lately. It's good to see him this way, but at the same time, I'm scared off this side." Travis gripped Natalie tightly, and the two kissed passionately. As the bell rang, Travis released himself from her grasp. "I'll get it!" Travis raised a finger, and said the three words in a humorous tone.

Travis opened the door, a large and toothy grin plastered across his face. The door opened, and when his face saw through the crack in the door, his grin vanished and sunk downwards into a frown.

Longshot, without her equipment and her disguise, stood at his door.

"Hi, I'm Zek's friend. I'm Tess." She raised an eyebrow, as Travis just stood there, with a blank expression on his face. "Is... he here?" Natalie walked up and pushed Travis out of the way.

"Hi, I'm Natalie," she interrupted, putting on her most polite look. "And my mime here is Travis. Nice to meet you." Zek walked in and gripped her in pleasure.

"How's it going, babe?" Zek said, wrapping his hands around her's, inviting her into the room. His eyes then turned to Travis. "Ready when you are."

* * *

Travis glanced around the living room of his apartment, not appreciating what he was in the middle of. His own opponent was dating his best friend, and everybody was oblivious to the fact. He wanted to say something, but didn't want to risk revealing his secret identity. Sure, there had been CodeWorm, who was his own teacher, and Gregor, a co-worker at GridTech, but a cat burglar dating his best friend? Way over the border.

Natalie was tranquil, more than usual, and was laying her head over his shoulder. Travis calmed down mentally, trying to enjoy the peace of being away from the Renegade suit.

"So... Zek says that you want to be a data feed specialist." After several minutes of silence, it was Natalie who shattered it. "Seems... interesting." She glanced at Travis, who nodded quickly.

"Well... my roommate derezzed a while back... for no strange reason-" As Tess continued talking, Travis thought to himself, 'I bet I know what that that 'strange reason' is,' but continued listening politely. "- So I'm kind of a trust-fund baby right now."

"So, uh, I can imagine what it's like to... eh." Travis had nothing to comment on, and stopped before he said something foolish. "Well... if we all lived under the same roof... that'd be pretty cool, huh?" Natalie sighed and dug further into his shoulder.

"Well, we were planning to move in together." Natalie purred, cupping her boyfriend's cheek. "But the whole GridTech controversy and Zek's disappearances complicated things." She flicked a ball of dust at Zek, who hacked from the projectile entering his mouth. "We were thinking of moving into here before he starts running off again."

"Well, we could either do that or move into our own apartment." Travis suggested, before Natalie gave him her evil eye. "What? It's just an idea. A good one." But he looked back to the other couple, who had somehow started making out while he and Natalie were chatting to each other. "But still, it's not really a good idea to split the gang up just yet. And how in Flynn's name did they start making out so fast?"

Natalie shrugged. "I don't know. You wanna try breaking their record?..."

"Nah, let's just leave 'em in peace." Travis stood up, grabbing his drink. "Besides, I have some business to finish at GridTech. They want me to bend light and sound. Now how the hell am I supposed to do that?" He thought for a second, then grinned. "Maybe I could help the Renegade with that. Build a new stealth suit."

"Well, the Renegade's been a little noticeable in white, and you've been saying you're bored at GridTech, so I don't see why not." Natalie kissed Travis goodnight, and allowed him to leave.

* * *

_GridTech Labs, 1800 PectroCycles..._

Travis placed the fusion welder on the table, rubbing his eyes in pain. He knew he had to make some progress on the project, and not by building tech for the Renegade. Though this was a different project, Travis hoped to dazzle his boss with this new invention.

"What've you got for me, kid?" Heliod came into the room, flanked by two of Travis' divisional think tank. "The entire division thinks this is a waste of time. Let's make this quick."

"Um... okay." Travis pointed at the box, and grinned. "Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the Cryo Cube 2000!" With the neutral expressions plastered on his think tank's faces, Travis' frown slouched further than ever.

"Travis, we've talked about this." Heliod walked up and smacked the top of the cube. "If you want to make an invention sound clever, you don't add 2000 at the end of the title."

"What about 3000?"

"Ahem." Travis shrugged, and moved aside as Heliod inspected it for any malfunctions. "Well, all the conduits are in the right place. So,what exactly does your..." Heliod sighed in exasperation. "...Cryo Cube 3000 do anyway."

Travis moved in and picked up the box. "What it does is it places a limb that's been severed from it's owner. You then have a much higher chance of being able to reattach the limb." Heliod nodded and turned to her lackeys.

"I want thirty of these made. Ship 'em out to five Argon Urgent Care stations." She turned back to Travis and smiled. "Good work, kid. You have yet to disappoint me." As she walked away, Travis sighed in relief, pulling out his baton, and racing out the exit to his hideout.

_Renegade's Hideout, 1900 PectroCycles..._

The Renegade sat in his chair, checking new video footage. Directly from his RPA units, Travis could tell where Longshot would strike next, or at least the general vicinity. If he lost contact with any of the RPA units, he knew where she would strike.

As he skimmed his eyes over the multiple feeds coming into his HUD, Unit 79's A and C units went black, with static taking over their visual feed. Travis grinned. "And there's our little friend." He grasped his baton and sped down the hidden road. "Watch out, Longshot... 'cause I'm coming for you." Watching his HUD, he gaped at the location of Unit #79a and c: the Coliseum.

* * *

_Uptown Argon, Coliseum, 2000 PectroCycles..._

A grappling cable fired upwards, and Longshot grinned as she scaled the wall of the coliseum. She wasn't here to get into the games for free, and she wasn't here to assassinate some high-ranking figure in Argon: She was here to steal their batons.

Using the same strategy as before, she cleaved her way through the glass, letting the circle fall to the streets below. As she crossed the threshold, klaxons blared loudly. As Longshot tried to escape, she saw ASF Light Copters bring their searchlights on her position, and ASF officers swarming the room she was entering.

"Give it up, Longshot!" One of the officers shouted, drawing his disk. "You're outnumbered and outmatched. Surrender and nobody gets hurt." Longshot grinned, flipping into the room and knocking two officers down, then throwing one of the unconscious men at three of his teammates. All three grunted as they went down. Grinning in victory, Longshot's grin vanished as a fist caused her to fly into a wall. The Renegade rubbed his fist as he gazed upon his victim.

"Seriously, ow!" Travis grimaced behind his mask as he glared at Longshot, who was cowering on the ground. "You're in big trouble, lady!" As he closed in, Longshot's foot swung around and smashed him into another wall. Firing her own cable, the Renegade shouted. "Hey! That's my trademark!" Firing his own cable, he aimed at her head with his foot, narrowly missing, and landing another kick with his other leg squarely on her shoulder.

"I know this is the lamest pickup line ever, but haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Longshot ignored him, and Travis continued ranting. "Um, are you?..."

"Y'know, I thought we talked about that outfit." Travis frowned.

"Yeah, well, not all of us can wear tight leather over our Light Suits. Don't you find it a little... chaffing?" Longshot growled once again. She turned around and pointed a finger at him.

"Listen, I don't want to be rude, but you're really starting to irritate me." She jumped off the side of the building, and Travis leaped after her, curious into her origins.

"So, what are you doing around here?"

Longshot huffed. "You mean a cute girl like me?" Travis raised an eyebrow.

"Um, how about no. But, long as we're talking.." He fired a cable and jumped on after her. "... I'm doing an article for Crime Fighter's monthly, about the inner psyche of the ordinary crook." Longshot scaled the building nearest her suction cup's grasp, and Travis followed, activating his nano-claws.

"You know what they say. It all goes back to the User."

Travis landed on a water tower, gripping to the sides as Longshot stopped dead in her tracks. "That's your answer. Do you have anybody you genuinely care about? If you got hurt or derezzed, what would they think of you?" Longshot looked downwards, towards Argon's depths, with a hurt look on her face. Travis knew he was close, if not completely positive, to winning her over.

"I never thought..." She transformed the look on her face into a scowl of rage. "... I'd ever here something so full of crap! What, did you think this Dr. Phil moment would give me some kind of... epiphany or something?"

Travis mentally slapped himself and cursed under his breath. "Hey, I just want to talk!" Longshot looked at him and gave him a neutral glare.

"I don't need a talk." She thought for a second, grinned manipulatively, and turned around. "Tell you what I do need, though... a date." Travis' eyes widened. "2100 PectroCycles, next Cycle. Think you can manage that? You'd better, since that's when I'll be strutting my stuff." Travis frowned as she jumped off the side, while he turned around and raced back to his apartment. Zek would be wondering where they both ran off to, and he would have a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

_Next Cycle, Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 0800 PectroCycles..._

Travis stared at his laptop, watching his chat buddy, GS12122, log onto their server. His headset recorded his every word as he spoke into it. "I'm supposed to be supportive. Tell him how great she is. But this secret... it would destroy everything. He would fall back to square one." He waited several NanoCycles, as his pen pal wrote his or her ideal: '_Real friends tell each other the truth!_'

"You don't know this guy." Travis looked down in shame, then looked up. "This is something that makes him happy. And believe me, he hasn't had a good track record in a while. So if I did this... he would be crushed." Taking his anger out on a computer screen forced Travis to rub his eyes, and he shut off the computer, heading downstairs.

"Hey, Trav," Zek said, holding up a CD, "Tess and Natalie are coming over to watch a holofilm. You wanna join in?"

Travis shook his head. "Nah, I've got some work at GridTech to catch up on. Besides, you guys don't need me commentating every bleeping minute." Zek gave him a look that said 'suit yourself', and walked upstairs. Travis sighed in defeat. One minute he was controlling his life as the Renegade. Now, it just seemed like he couldn't spend a single MicroCycle with his friends. As he walked out the door, he whispered "I'm sorry," before closing it behind him.

* * *

_Concept's Command Base, Viewpoint, 1500 PectroCycles..._

Concept stood at the edge of his watch tower, staring down at the bloodstream of light that passed through his helmet's viewscreen. He was expecting several guests soon, and he wasn't moving until he heard the lift doors open.

Funnily enough, they did as he thought about them. Three Enforcers dragged two prisoners out from the spherical lift, and shoved them on the floor. One of them had chocolate-brown skin, and was frightened to the ends of the Grid. The other was just as scared, but was lighter in skin tone, and bore the circuits of a lowly mechanic; Wyler and Gregor, both of them opponents of the Renegade.

For once, he had something in common with civilians.

Turning around, his circuitry fluxed as he moved, unlike most programs on the Grid. It moved while he stood, sat, drank, it always fluxed in random patterns, the cracked circuitry never staying in one place.

"I believe you are both familiar with a program known as the Renegade." Concept towered over the two prisoners, using his height and already menacing appearance. Both programs nodded cowardly, giving Concept an idea that he was in control. "Good." He pointed to the three Enforcers nearby. "Release them and give them back their equipment." Gregor and Wyler looked at each other in genuine shock as they felt the grip of their handcuffs slacken. They looked up to Concept, who crossed his arms underneath his cape. "I have need of skilled warriors who have faced off against the Renegade. Ones who know his weaknesses and strengths. I know that you aren't the only ones who have faced off against the Renegade. However, CodeWorm unfortunately killed himself trying to escape his foe, and most others are just petty crooks who are worse at catching this imbecile."

Jet Sentry, who had strapped on his Heavy Sentry gear, and Gregor, who had pulled on some Enforcer Scout armor, looked at each other, before Jet Sentry spoke up. "Sir, if I may trouble you with boldness?" Concept nodded, and his questioner stood up. "Well, I'm the only program with any combat experience. What can Gregor do?"

"All I need is GridTech resources and funding, and I can fend for myself with a miniature army." Gregor waited for a response, and watched as Concept pointed to four Enforcers nearby. The four raced off, and Gregor silently smirked. Concept turned back to his viewpoint, and allowed his cape to be tugged at by the wind.

"Longshot is currently occupied with the Renegade. Though I don't know her true identity, she would prove a valuable asset. CodeWorm is gone, as you are probably well aware. That leaves us with two large holes to fill in."

Jet Sentry raised an eyebrow behind the Sentry mask. "Boss? What holes?" Concept crossed his arms, and turned around to face his lieutenants.

"We can't face the Renegade single-handedly. Even I know that the Renegade is a difficult opponent. If we attack in greater numbers, however, we have an indefinite advantage. With the power of five super-powered ex-criminals, we would be an incredibly tall hurdle for the Renegade to jump. And with my boundless ambition, and my leadership..." Concept turned around, and behind his cracked helmet, grinned maniacally in confidence. "We would be unstoppable. The Renegade may be superior to Beck, but we are superior to him." He activated his disk, and the yellow cracks in the disk shone with the power of a thousand suns.

"We would be the Superior Six."

* * *

_Argon Architecture Tower, 2100 PectroCycles..._

Travis sighed as his Renegade suit crawled over his body, allowing the helmet to slide into place. This was the place Longshot had arranged for them to meet. Calling ASF ahead in case anything happened, he had commissioned the use of three Light Copters and 21 ASF Officers to apprehend Longshot.

"You're early." Travis flinched, as turned around as he saw Longshot standing behind him, holding a coil of rope over her shoulder. "Good. Let's get a party underway." Running along AA Tower's roof, she threw the rope and swung over towards the Flynn Expo Center. Travis followed quickly after, pressing a silent alarm on one of his four "T" squares. The green light signaled that the call had been received, and that the ASF team was on it's way.

As Longshot rounded the corner of an air vent, she found a floodlight shining directly in her path. An ASF Light Copter had her cornered, as ten ASF officers smashed a nearby fire escape door clean off it's hinges. Longshot grimaced, and turned around to find ten more officers holding their disks in an attacking stance. The Renegade stood tall, not caring that three floodlights were on his position.

"Look, Longshot, you're on the wrong side." The Renegade folded his arms, holding a disk in one hand, and a Light Staff in the other. "Your abilities are amazing, but you're using them the wrong way. Using your powers to steal and make others miserable is irresponsible, and responsibility is the key to controlling power. Give it up. Make yourself a hero. Join ASF if you want. Just don't fight back." Without warning, Longshot drew a pipe bomb, the flash of even brighter light temporarily blinding Travis, who looked away as he saw Longshot disappear, with his helmet visor reducing the glare.

And without warning, the Light Copters opened fire. And both the Renegade and Longshot. The Renegade dodged every laser blast with ease, using his superior agility to his advantage. Longshot, who had only her natural movement on her side, was caught on the leg by a stray blast.

"Tess!" Travis shouted, with Longshot gaping at the Renegade knowing her true identity.

"How do you know my name?!" She shouted, hiding behind an air vent. "How do you know it?! Tell me!" Their short conversation was rudely cut off by the Light Copter closing in for the kill. The Renegade gripped onto the side of the building and held out a hand.

"Tess! Let me help you!"

"You don't know me!" She snapped back, pushing Travis back in shame. "Don't even _think_ you know me!" In the Light Copter, the gunner was ready to take aim, when, as his scope came in her direction, she just jumped, blowing a kiss as she dove into Argon's streets. The gunner's eyebrow shot up, as he directed the pilot to swoop downwards to get a better look. Travis looked on, knowing she probably survived the fall, and rezzed in his Light Jet before the ASF officers could question his involvement.

* * *

_Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 0700 PectroCycles..._

Travis woke up, yawning as he smoothed out his ruffled hair. Considering his past schedules as the Renegade, he was up quite early, at 0700 PectroCycles. His face automatically morphed into the expression that you'd see on that deer next to the highway, as he heard Zek shouting to a phone.

"Wait... slow down... what? What do you mean?... Wait, Tess!..." Zek roared in fury as the line cut off. Travis slowly scaled the staircase, and only until he was at the bottom did Zek notice him.

"That... didn't sound good." Travis gave a weak, sympathetic smile, and walked over to Zek. "What happened, exactly?"

"She's leaving."

Travis raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"She just called and said she's leaving. Said she may not coming back. EVER!" Zek gripped his phone tightly, crushing it under the pressure. "Dammit!" The next moment Travis saw the crushed phone stuck in the wall, it's inner workings smoldering from their unfortunate destruction. Travis walked up and patted his friend's shoulder.

"Whadd'ya say we go to the Club and scarf down a dozen glazed donuts." Zek's anger faded away, and he smiled.

"How about half-glazed, half-chili?" Travis shrugged, giving the point of "I don't see why not", and Zek grinned. "Oh, and by the way, you're buying. Consider it payback for backing out on me last Cycle." Travis replied with a silent smirk and followed his best friend out the door.

'_Ever wonder what my life is like?_' Travis thought to himself, walking down the hall with Zek into a lift, both grinning drunkly. '_It goes like this. I've learned through my time as the Renegade, that just because you're a good guy, it doesn't necessarily make you a hero. Hero can refer to either side of a war, but in this conflict, nobody's a hero. Not until this emotional conflict fades. And Zek... well, I think he's still trying to figure it out. But I hope that wherever Zek goes to take out his anger, that it's better place than he's in now._'

* * *

**A/N: Not sure what to say here. I'm thinking this is momentum, so I'm going to use it to my advantage. My goal is to make programs seem more User-like, since Flynn stated in Tron: Evolution that programs can adapt to new ideas and have more free will (more or less with the ISO, but I figure that Basics can adapt too. I want to give a major shoutout to PrincessKai317, who's doing a great job with her story so far. And to 2theSky as well, who has taken a much darker tone in his stories. Until then, stay awesome.**

**Next: Travis battles a new super-powered villain, the HobGoblin, who forces Travis to invent a harmonics-emitting Light Suit. The following battle leads to the introduction of another vigilante in costume.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Sting That Never Fades

Chapter 7: The Sting that Never Fades

_Concept's Command Base, Armory, 2300 PectroCycles..._

Concept stood at the doorway to his armory, with an Enforcer, fresh from special training, standing next to him. The circular doorway, with eight curved slits, slid outwards and allowed the two programs to step into the room. Small, green-circuited explosives lined the walls, hundreds of them on a single shelf. A long, thin sword lay on a pedestal, next to a wing chute edited to flap with specialized wings. Concept gestured to the weapons of mass destruction before him.

"All of these are at your disposal." Concept explained bluntly and quickly, his crackled voice echoing in the room. "You will be reloaded every mission, but that will not be necessary. Because you only have one mission." The Enforcer pulled off his mask, smirking as he grasped his amor, made in the Scout Enforcer variant, and pulled in on, along with a large hood to appear more menacing. The wing chute came next, and was followed by a sheath for the energy sword, along with a grip for the explosives. "Your objective is to test the Renegade. He is often seen heading towards GridTech Labs. Go there, and fight him, my Hobgoblin. And if he should fail to destroy you..."

The mask emitted two green eyes, slitting along with the maniacal grin underneath.

"... Do not hesitate to strike him down."

* * *

_GridTech Labs, Lab 9, 0800 PectroCycles..._

Heliod opened the door to find Travis pacing across the room, carrying different objects with him every time he came into her line of view. Once he would be carrying a barometric oscillator, the next he would carrying a thin sheet of fiber-optic mesh. All of these were being crafted into a Light Suit posted on a mannequin, outlined with thick, but minimal white circuits.

"Uh, kid?" Travis stopped welding and peeled off his goggles, allowing Heliod to speak. "Can I... ask what you're doing?"

"I'm building an invention you wanted me to build a while ago. Remember how you wanted me to find a way to bend light and sound?" Heliod nodded. "Well, I'm trying to invent a Light Suit that lets off harmonics, and nulls out any harmful noise. I'm trying to make it into just a headphone, but the Light Suit is the prototype at the time."

Heliod gave an approving nod. "And who will wear this suit? Or test it out?"

"That's the problem. I haven't been able to finish it. But I was able to contact the Renegade, and he said he was willing to test it out. Provided I can finish it within a HiloCycle, which shouldn't even take a MylaCycle." Travis tapped a button, and both colors of circuitry changed to a light green, then to a bright red, and finally a soupy light-blue. "Eh, but I'm still trying figure out what these colors would mean." He turned to Heliod and handed her a datapad. "I'll get back to you on it." Heliod smiled and left the lab. Travis sighed with relief. Every time he encountered his boss, he swore she knew he was the Renegade. And when he said that he was developing tech for him, she had nodded in a way that signaled Travis that she knew something he didn't.

A flash lit up on his mobile patrol app. Travis unlocked his phone and opened RPA Unit #21's data feed. A green-circuited, hooded man, carrying a flaming sword and red-circuited explosives, was using a wing chute to fly over the rooftops of Argon's outer city. Towards GridTech. Travis' eyes shot open, forcing him to lock the suit in the Shadow Vault: A door that only Travis could access, allowing him to stash his Renegade gear in it without being caught.

The Renegade suit folded over his civilian wear, and the helmet clicked into place, as an explosion rocked the entire building. "Hold on!" He shouted, rushing towards the blue flames and chaos. "I'm a comin'!"

Three ASF officers dressed in battle-heavy armor surrounded the GridTech Labs staff, as the Goblin-like creature finally burst out of the wall. Heliod turned to one of the men and said, "Mr. Phillip?"

"Don't worry, ma'am," the lead officer calmly spoke, drawing his disk. "We have the most cutting-edge technology at our side. That freak doesn't stand a chance."

The figure ground his teeth, drawing five small knife-like objects. "That's Hobgoblin to you, smarty! And I have the 'cutting-edge' for ya right here!" The blades dug into the officer's armor, causing them to gasp in pain as they derezzed into nothing. Hobgoblin grinned maniacally and turned to Heliod. "As for you, _ma'am_, let me introduce you to the Hobgoblin diet. Easy way to shave off a few pounds!" As the sword swung, so did a black-and-white figure, pulling Heliod out of the sword's trajectory.

"Not so fast, Hobby," the Renegade said, issuing a punch to Hobgoblin's face. "I don't think it's FDA approved. You might wanna check with them before putting it on the market."

"The Renegade?!" Hobgoblin shouted. Heliod turned and gave a softer voice. "Where did you come from, Tron?!" The Renegade jumped from table to table, only giving a wisecrack response.

"Parked Light Roadster. Punk music. Nine HiloCycles later: it's a boy! A Rene-boy!" Hobgoblin elbowed Travis, with both of them collapsing on the ground.

"Heh. I like you." Hobgoblin croaked. "You're pretty silly. But, sadly, silly won't help you escape this!" A loud, earsplitting laugh pierced Travis' eardrum, as he collapsed on the floor once again. His right lens shattered from the noise, and could only watch as the Hobgoblin raised his sword triumphantly.

Before the sword could land on it's target, a harmonics generated from a co-worker's MP3 player negated the noise. As Travis weakly edged away, he fired an adhesive bomb on Hobgoblin's mouth, and he temporarily ceased to attempt to pull away the glue. Frustration overtook the Hobgoblin's sense of destruction as he fled and took off.

The Renegade winced in pain as he slowly kneeled, and finally stood up, firing a biocable to escape the mess. Heliod's lenses tracked the Renegade until a wall separated the two, and turned around to help her staff recover from the calamity that had come over their lab.

Travis barely managed to clean his wounds and change out of the Renegade suit as Heliod's override key clicked into his lab's door. Heliod worriedly stormed into the lab to find a battered Travis, covered in small scratches, but still injured nonetheless.

"Trav! You alright?! What happened to you?!"

"I got injured in the Hobgoblin attack." Travis groaned as he stood up, the pain stabbing at him from all directions. "I... I've gotta help the Renegade _now_. I need to finish that suit as fast as I can, otherwise there won't be a Renegade to help." Travis gasped as he collapsed to the floor. Heliod, though blind, could see Travis on the floor with the help of her lenses, and quickly rushed to help him up.

"Kid, you're still hurt. And besides, I don't think Hobgoblin'll be an issue much longer. The suit is almost finished in development. Since you have the schematics, I can have Sajini and Marko finish it for you with their tech." Travis nodded, leaning back into his chair. Heliod smiled contently and rose up from her bent legs. "I'll keep you in check over the new events. In the meanwhile, take some time off at Zek's while GridTech's being repaired."

* * *

_3 Cycles later, Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 0700 PectroCycles..._

Travis smashed his alarm, yawning as he leaned upward. Most of his wounds had healed, and Sajini and Marko had probably finished the Stealth Suit by now. Once again, everything had changed for the better.

But there was still the exception of Hobgoblin. He was probably still causing trouble across Argon as he thought of it. And his while he caused more trouble, people would wonder where the Renegade was when they needed him, having learned their mistake after the Jet Sentry incident. Zek, however, was still resilient. Constantly rejoicing over the Renegade's absence, Travis felt like he needed to escape. Maybe get an apartment somewhere still in Tribeca, just not here. No... that would be too premature of a stay. For now, stopping the Hobgoblin was a priority.

As Travis leaned up, a flashing light beeped at the edge of the window. Travis slid the window open and a Renegade Patrol Android crawled up his arm. It hummed in a monotone, "_Doctor._"

"Status, Unit #67?" Travis asked, placing the RPA unit on his nightstand. The RPA unit replied, "_Subjects 1, 4 and 6 located, along with one unidentified program._" Travis raised an eyebrow, holding both hands up. "Whoa, wait, stop. One unidentified program? Clarify with description."

"_Unknown_. _Constant energy pattern fluctuation allowed program to escape without facial recognition. _" The RPA unit apparently knew less than Travis did at this point. "_Minimal surveillance obtained by Units 5 and 71. Captured the criminal leaders Code Shark and Rogue with little effort single-handedly._" Travis' eyes joined their brows in a raised unison. This program obviously knew what he or she was doing. He had to consider the possibility that she might have been on the Grid longer than he had. And she had also been studying, constantly changing her coding patterns to escape coding recognition. Travis griped to himself, putting on his suit and leaping out the window.

Before leaving, Travis turned towards Unit #67. "I need you to send a Priority S warning to all ASF officers and RPA units. Anybody finds them on the network, send the data feed to my HUD." With that said, Travis leaped out of his window and towards the boonies of Argon.

* * *

_Lower Argon, just outside Light Rail Terminal B, 1200 PectroCycles..._

Travis skulked underneath three Light Rail tracks, as two rolled in and out of the station adjacent to him. Gripping the edge of his bench, Travis snapped the coding off the seat behind him in annoyance. Data feeds streamed through his HUD, none of them giving him any clue to this masked vigilante's identity. As he began to close his eyes, Unit 93's B unit gave a positive reading. Travis smugly grinned behind his mask, having found a single coding string that was locked into her system, no matter what fluctuation it went through. That way, he had a positive lock that at least allowed him to track her, even without a facial recognition.

Travis stood up, stretched, and fired a cable to catch up. She was up at Argon Suspension Bridge, and so was Hobgoblin. This was only asking for a dangerous fight, and Travis had to stop it before any civilian programs got hurt.

* * *

_Argon Suspension Bridge, 1200 PectroCycles..._

Only problem was, the fight had already begun. Explosions were covering the bridge, two figures dancing across the thin stretch of coding. One was slashing an energy sword and throwing spherical explosives at the other figure, who was merely dodging the blasts, and throwing the ones that weren't detonating on a timing back at Hobgoblin, who evaded each blast swiftly and with ease.

Travis' Light Cycle swerved on the coded pavement, as he dropped onto said pavement while his baton slid into his hand. "I've been practicing that trick for Cycles now! Too bad nobody was paying attention. Ah well, can't say I blame 'em. With all the chaos and such." Travis leaped into the air, tackling a civilian out of the way before an explosion could reach them.

Travis reached out, getting onto his knees and touching the citizen. "You alright?!" The Renegade was stunned as a hand met his helmet. A red welt was on the program's hand while Travis gripped his chin.

"Get away from me, you freak!" The citizen shouted, pulling herself from the ground. "She's the one doing all the work! Just leave!" Travis gaped behind his mask, backing away. His teeth ground against each other, in an expression of both physical and emotional pain. As he walked away, an explosion cut his splintered soul back to corporeality. The other vigilante had taken a hit, and was sprawled across the ground: in his stealth suit.

"What's wrong with you?!" The Renegade shouted, helping her back onto her feet. "Did you even bother to toy with your opponent, and try to learn his weaknesses?! Or did you just jump in headfirst and beat up on him?!" The female remained silent, until Travis saw the pattern on her black Light Suit. It reminded him of.. "Is that the Light Suit the kid at GridTech was making me?! I can't believe you stole it from him!"

"Oh, and you can't say you haven't stolen stuff from him?!" Travis' eyes darted back and forth. He hadn't really thought of it that way. He had been taking resources and using them to make his own life as the Renegade easier. But she was somehow doing this better and making his mind shift randomly. She was good. As he regained mental composure, an explosion cut him off. His instincts kicked in, shielding the girl from the blast.

"It's not like that!" He shouted, gripping a fallen bola and snagging it around Hobgoblin and tossing him to the street. "I asked him to make me this stuff! And you... just took it! You're worse than _Jet Sentry_!"

The girl stood still, as Travis sighed. But as he looked closer, the program was quivering in shame. He swore he saw a single tear slid through the cracks in her helmet. And he knew that he had caused it. "Look... if it makes you feel any better.. a long time ago, my friend was murdered in cold blood by a program. And that's why I took up the fight. But you don't have to steal to do it! And you don't have to risk hundreds of lives to do it! Look around you!" She did, and saw the trail of carnage that was Argon Suspension Bridge. "This was the combination of three villains in a single hero! Codeworm wanted redemption, Jet Sentry wanted to help, and Longshot stole to make her living! If you begin rampaging through Argon to stop this entire mess, you'll end up like Hobgoblin!"

The girl turned and looked away. "If it helps you, I'm willing to team up. But only if you want to. If not, then please. Stop leaving a trail of blood wherever you go." A moment of silence passed over before a loud roar was echoed across the canyon. Hobgoblin grabbed the cord, ripping it apart and charging at the two vigilantes. Just seconds before the sword could make contact, Travis slid his spine backwards, and the girl's fist went into Hobgoblin's face. Hobgoblin collapsed on the ground, moaning in whispering pain.

The Renegade kneeled over Hobgoblin, placing a pair of adhesive cuffs on his opponent's wrists. Travis stood up and held out his hand. "Nice job. I have a good feeling that we'll make a great team. You in?" A MicroCycle passed before her hand slipped into his, shaking it with a truce in mind. The initial hand's owner smiled behind his mask. "That's what I thought." Holding out a set of coordinates, he handed it to the girl. "Meet me at these coordinates. Next Cycles, 2100 Pectros. We'll start teaming up there." As he turned to leave, he came back around almost as quickly. "By the way, um... I never got your name. If you have one."

"Night Streak." Travis raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off as he rezzed in a Light Jet, and screamed into the night sky.

* * *

_Next Cycle, Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 2100 PectroCycles..._

Zek yawned as he woke up and rubbed the back of his head. Every Cycle since Miranda derezzed, he had nightmares too horrific to fit in words. He needed a drink, and fast. Maybe that would help. Zek shrugged to himself as he neared Travis' door and knocked. No response. Asleep? No, he would've heard Travis moan that he wasn't hungry.

Noticing something wrong, he pushed the door open to find an empty window, and tossed sheets nearby on the bed. Zek frowned, picking up his phone. He needed to make a call. To Natalie. She was off work, maybe Travis was spending the Cycle at her place. After several Nanos, the answering machine picked up.

"_Hi, you've reached Natalie. I can't get to my phone at the MicroCycle, please call back if your call has any significance to me._" Zek frowned further, not even bothering to leave a message. Both Travis and Natalie not answering their phones? This was new, and awkwardly strange...

* * *

_Concept's Command Center, 1 PectroCycle ago..._

Concept stared at Hobgoblin, who lay battered and broken before him. The former Enforcer had failed to beat the Renegade a second time, but that would no longer be an issue. He had upgraded Hobgoblin's Sonic Shout, and it was sure to be a real joke. A scream, if you though about it.

"Well, my friend," Concept muttered, watching his lackey groan as he rose from his recharging. "It seems you let me down. The Renegade has learned your weaknesses and plans to exploit them. But I have something different in mind." A button on Concept's wrist lit up, and two platoons of Enforcers marched into six lines of four. "Let's see how our little friend deals with strength in numbers..."

* * *

_Renegade's Hideout, Present Cycle..._

Travis sighed, clicking the RPA time system in annoyance. Night Streak was supposed to be here, but instead, she had ducked out on him. As he had probably guessed.

Travis strode to the ground floor, and exited the warehouse. Applying a new coating of stealth to his incredibly visible Light Suit, Travis nodded in giddy approval. Most of the circuitry remaining from his own changes to the Renegade costume were stripped away here, and what was left was the iconic "T", a few wrist, shoe tip and ankle circuits, and his lenses, all tinted mint-green. Now, he just stuck out like a cloaked man in a small crowd.

Sighing, Travis eventually decided that he couldn't get the best of both worlds, instead just slipping down the rock cliff into the city. He fired a cable and gripped the spire of the Argon Architecture Tower, overlooking the entire city. Yet, despite knowing he could fight inch by inch to Concept, he knew that he probably wouldn't make it.

First off, there was Hobgoblin. Travis knew the materials in Hobby's explosives were alloys made in a subsidiary of Concept's manufacturing plants, so Travis had something to trace him to. Then, there were the villains that Travis had defeated over the past two HiloCycles. Longshot had just vanished off the face of the Grid, and Jet Sentry and Gregor were arrested by ASF. Looking into ASF's security files, however, he found that Concept had paid bail and put them under his own custody. That meant Concept was cooking up something, but the Renegade had no idea what it was.

Before he could mope any longer, an explosion near a warehouse downtown went off. Travis tightened his glare, firing a cable towards the scene.

When he arrived, there were signs of crude repair, and a glimpse of a Light Tank cannon was visible through the back entrance.

"So.. Hobgoblin's trying to give me the secret code. Trap?" He thought to himself for a moment. "Yeah, definitely a trap." As he walked inside, heat surrounded his Light Suit, molten vats of iron spewing from the ceiling. Smoke trailed above him as Travis switched back to his regular Renegade outfit. Hobgoblin cackled as he swung his fists, each one bearing a bomb.

"Welcome to the Hobgoblin's house of horror!" Travis heard Hobgoblin shout over the steam hissing and bubbling of molten iron. "Or should I say.. Refinery of Revulsion! Ah ha ha ha ha!"

"Y'know, Hobby, maybe you should become a marine operator." Travis huffed, swiftly evading every attack Hobgoblin threw at him, literally. "That glider could probably carry a couple nets. Would't hurt to-" Travis was cut off as the ceiling suddenly lit up with yellow. Twenty-four Enforcers descended from the ceiling, and Travis soon found himself surrounded.

"To _what_, Renegade?!" Hobgoblin cackled as his glider hovered feet above the ground. "To see you turn into a pile of cubes?! Wouldn't that be the day?!" Everybody, minus Hobgoblin, slid towards the safety rail while the support rafters buckled. The molten iron had flowed up high enough that it didn't take long for all but four Enforcers to tumble over into the lava. Travis caught one with a cable, but the remaining nineteen screamed as their bodies shattered from the extreme conditions they so quickly took.

"Next time, Hobby, leave out party favors and snacks." Travis grimaced, flinging his saved Enforcer back onto the railing, and watched as said Enforcer joined his remaining comrades outside the door. "I think your guests will stay longer."

Hobgoblin didn't pay attention, instead uppercutting Travis and tossing him through the roof, only for the Renegade to stand on his knees in pain.

Before another motion could be made, Travis felt his arms grip to the sides of his body, followed by his ankles sealing themselves against each other.

"Well, applause would be nice!" Hobgoblin's maniacal grin diminished into a frown. "I wouldn't try breaking out of those Renegade. The cables are coated with a layer of solid Duratanium. Plus, I can also morph it to jab miniature spikes into your body! So shut up and let's have some _fun_!" Travis groaned, knowing that Hobgoblin's definition of fun was far different from his own. "Which do you think will break first: My cables, or your body?! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" The glider drifted into a hollowed-out pipe, with Travis clanging along the sides and trying not to scream.

Hobgoblin sighed in sarcastic defeat. "Well, that taught us nothing! Perhaps a more drastic approach is in order!" Travis began staring at the ground, until the building that he had left shrunk to the size of an ant to his foot. A breeze entered his helmet as the other end of the cable drifted nearby. "Happy landing, Renegade!" Hobgoblin wasn't prepared for this contingency, as Travis pulled on the wing chute cord. But, all that came out was a broken, shattered wing and a few shards of chute coding.

"Well, so much for that one." Travis groaned in defeat. "Here's hoping the ground will stop my fall." As Travis braced himself, another figure grasped him and activated their own wing chute, landing them safely on the ground. Travis ripped through the cords, with the Duratanium coating gone.

"Well, thanks for the save, though unnecessary..." Travis turned around to see a familiar figure next to him. "Night Streak?! Boy, you picked a good time to show up. And I'm going to have to deduct points for your late attendance record."

"Well, I figured you'd need the save." Night Streak folded her arms, and helped the Renegade up. "Guess Hobby decided to play without the burden of rules?"

"Correct guess, first prize, yee-hah," Travis muttered, Night Streak giggling. "I'm guessing he's over... there!" Travis shouted his last word as a bomb went flying into his head. Travis gripped the next one with a cable and flung it into Hobgoblin's glider. The villain gaped in surprise as the cloud of smoke sent him flying into the roof where his two opponents stood waiting for him.

"Give it up, Gobby." The Renegade raised a disk to Hobgoblin's throat, with Night Streak holding a Light Staff aimed at the mask. Hobgoblin grinned, and the glider nearly impaled Night Streak, who swerved to the left and dodged the crowbar wedged into the glider's front.

"Godspeed, Streak!" The Renegade shouted. Hobgoblin took the distraction and used it, tripping up the Renegade and leaping onto the glider, but not before the Renegade fired a cable, ripping off the explosives and energy sword. Night Streak raced after the escaping glider, only to stop and see the Renegade examining the belt containing the sword and grenades, not even bothering to chase after Hobgoblin. "What are you doing, Tron?!" She shouted, pointing towards the small bulb of highly concentrated energy. "Gobby's getting away!"

"Doesn't matter, Streak." Travis said, gripping the belt, drawing the sword and tossing it to his comrade. "Besides, I have a good idea as to where he's going. We just need to find the right time to follow." Night Streak stood there, spending a couple of MicroCycles to try and understand her partner's words. But by the time she finally understood them, the Renegade had vanished, leaving her to get home by herself.

And while she stood there, she found a note stuck to the sword's handle. She read it and smiled from behind her mask brighter than she had in Cycles. '_By the way, you can keep the suit. You earned it._'

* * *

_Concept's Command Base, Pinnacle, 0010 PectroCycles..._

"You _what_?!" Hobgoblin flinched in total fear, as Concept smashed his glass of energy against the table. The glass shattered, leaving the energy inside it to flow freely across the table. "I give you twenty-four soldiers and the best prototype technology to destroy the Renegade, and now look at the results! Nineteen of my best are dead, and the Renegade managed to get hold of your sword and grenades! _What do you have to say for yourself_?!"

Hobgoblin sighed, lowering the hood and retracting the mask. "Look, boss, I'm sorry. I messed up, but the Renegade has a groupie. I can't take on two of 'em."

"Then they've left me no choice," Concept growled, putting a data strip with Hobgoblin's physical into a six-outlet slot. The fourth glowed brightly, along with those of Jet Sentry, Longshot, and Gregor. "You're being put in a team under my direct command. Longshot came to me shortly after her encounter with ASF, requesting membership. You know what's going on now." Hobgoblin nodded in mild understanding. "Gregor has built the technology to fight the Renegade, and has given himself a new codename: Rene-Slayer. And with Jet Sentry, nothing's changed." Concept pushed his hands behind his back and smiled. "Only two more pieces to go. Once that is done, the Renegade will want to prevent the day he set foot in Argon."

* * *

A/N: A little shorter than usual, but I just didn't have enough time to write a 5,000 word chapter. Still, it looked pretty good when I looked at it. I decided to give Travis a little conflict than usual by introducing Night Streak. Yeah, because this story didn't have any conflict. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless. Thanks to PrincessKai317 and DJ Remix for reviewing, and see you all next chapter.

The next chapter, "One Last Cycle", concludes the Sibling Rivalry arc and the chapter afterwards, "Brand New Cycle" , begins the arc titled, "My Own Worst Enemy", detailing Travis' struggles against new opponents and the Superior Six, Concept's new task force.

**Next: If everything you knew was coming apart, what would you do... If you only had one last Cycle?!**


	8. Chapter 8: One Last Cycle

Chapter 8: One Last Cycle

_Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 0500 PectroCycles..._

Travis groaned as he opened his eyes, stretching his arms to the possible limits of the upcoming Cycle. Grinning, his energetic rush to get up was his own literal downfall, as he landed with a grunt on top of Natalie, who was sound asleep underneath him. Travis looked down, to see he and Natalie were both topless, though Natalie was at least covered by the bed covers.

'_Oh, yeah... what _did _happen last night? Can't believe Zek spiked the energy.' _Travis grumbled to himself in his mind as he changed his disk to allow his Light Suit to cover his body completely. Then, as soon as his energy rush came to him, he felt drowsy. He probably hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and he had a long Cycle ahead of him.

"Well, better leave Natalie a note." Knowing Natalie's sleeping habits, Travis knew better than to run off without telling her where he had run off to. Writing a note on a data pad in haste, Travis left the note on his pillow and rushed out the door, before Heliod called him out for being late. Travis opened the door, paused, and turned around to kiss his girlfriend on the cheek before he left.

* * *

_GridTech Labs, 0900 PectroCycles..._

As Travis stumbled into his lab, he found Heliod in his lab, delving into his computer's data files. It was several MicroCycles before Heliod realized Travis was there, and turned around to see him looking at her suspiciously.

"Wha?... what are you doing with my data files?" Travis quickly interrogated, as he walked over to the console. "I can't believe this, Heliod! Why would you sneak into my personal files?! Those are really important, and if anybody got their hands on them, they could take the cred all for themselves!"

"I came to talk to you about the Renegade." Travis stopped typing in a new password, and stood as silent as a statue. "He was caught on surveillance cameras last night stealing from a weapons reserve in Concept's base. I know you make tech for him, but I really wish you wouldn't. Unless..." Travis snorted in fury, before pulling up the files from the Lab's mainframe.

"Heliod, it's obvious he's a fake!" Travis said, smacking the back of his hand into the screen. "First, the tech isn't even the same that I made for him. Look at the cable launchers; they shoot and pull him inwards. This guy is firing the cable and running to him. Second, he's using suction cups on his hands! The Renegade would use retractable nano-claws to scale walls!"

"How is it that you know so much about him?" Heliod shot back, and Travis stopped, frozen in his tracks. "Is it that _you're_ the Renegade?!"

"That's crazy, Heliod! Why would you just randomly assume that?! I just make tech for him, that's all! Now you never answered my question: why were you in my personal computer files?!" Heliod sighed, and sat down.

"Night Streak came in last night and asked to see your lab. Somehow, she knew that you make tech for him, and asked me to get into your lab and get the blueprints for some of your new designs. She was planning to make improved versions of your designs. New RPA units, grappling launchers, stronger adhesives, she was using it to help the Renegade." Heliod grit her teeth. "And it was a hefty sum." Travis scowled. His own boss had betrayed him, the RPA units were failing to locate an imposter, and Night Streak was stealing his designs and improving them. There wasn't any possible way the Cycle could get worse.

"Look, I'm going to find the Renegade and help him solve this case. If you want to help Night Streak, then do it. But don't ever use my designs again. Please. This is just making things harder for both of us." As Travis walked out of the lab, before he locked the door, he heard faint crying emitting from the small crack of space.

As soon as he was out of earshot, he activated a Code Two alert on his bluetooth. "BIT, I need you to shut down all RPA units after they return to the hideout. We have a major imposter, and I want you to send a Priority S alert to ASF." Travis head a faithful 'YES', and, satisfied, crawled up the wall to become the Renegade persona. He had a mystery to solve, and he had to do it fast. First step was locating Night Streak, and find out her sudden motive change.

* * *

_Renegade's Hideout, 1100 PectroCycles..._

The Renegade opened the clanging door to find Night Streak behind the solid wall of coded metal. Travis, still angry from the previous events, gestured to the hideout behind him.

"Come on in, make yourself at home." Night Streak walked in, and stared in awe at the technological wonders before her eyes. Travis walked next to her and smiled. "Yeah. I sort of live here. I have a friend at GridTech who made all this tech for me." Night Streak folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, my friend knows him. Travis, that kid who's friends with Natalie?" Travis' eyes widened. How did she?- "Yeah, I know her. She helps out behind the desk and informs me about different crime activity. That's how I took out Code Shark and Rogue so easily."

"Well, we're not here to discuss methods of crime-fighting. We need to talk about the recent wave of crime. Committed by you and me." Night Streak bolted upwards, and Travis eyed her suspiciously. "Your friend Natalie apparently has a blind spot, and so do my RPA units. I've been framed for stealing from Concept's military fort, and you told Heliod to break into Travis' lab and steal his blueprints." Night Streak began posturing for a protest, but Travis held both hands up in defense. "I'm not accusing you of anything, but for now, we need to maintain a low profile. Use a different costume, and I'll set to work on clearing your name."

Travis walked over to a console, and gripped the edges while thinking to himself. He had this one chance, and he wasn't going to bust it just like this. He released his grip from the console, and turned around to see Night Streak relaxing in one of the chairs. He half-knelt and spoke in a hardened, unfriendly voice. "I'm going to ask this once, and you need to answer me honestly. Got that?" Night Streak, surprised with his tone of voice, nodded understandingly. "Who are you under that mask?" Night Streak sighed, and pulled back her helmet. First came a thin layer of amber-brown hair, tied back into a bun, followed by a tanned skin tone. Two aqua blue eyes and curved mouth finally gave Travis his answer.

Natalie was behind the mask. She frowned and bit her lip. "There. My name's Natalie. Are you happy now?" Travis sat down in the chair opposite and closed his eyes, biting his own lip to suppress his emotional pain.

"No. I'm not." Natalie's mouth opened ever so slightly, a wisp of terror painted across her face. "Because I have to share a secret too." Travis held his finger over the helmet lock, froze for a second to confirm his decision, and retracted his own helmet. Natalie cupped her hands over her mouth in shock, her eyes filled with more betrayal than Travis had experienced in his lifetime.

"Ta-daaaa..." He grimaced, closing his eyes and leaning his head towards the ground in shame. "There you have it, hun. I'm so sorry."

There was a moment of silence between the two. Natalie was the first to break it. "So... why _did_ you become the Renegade? I mean, there must have been some motive. Why?" Travis was reluctant to answer, before he finally answered the question his own girlfriend was pushing onto him.

"Concept's my drive. He killed Miranda just because she questioned his ideas. I found the Renegade disk, and I used it to take down Concept. But this city respects the Renegade for what he did in the Grid Wars. I can't let them think the Renegade is a one-time hit-and-runner." Travis fell quiet for a few nanos, and began speaking again. "All this... is for a master plan. To take down Concept and make sure he gets run out of Argon. Beck left this disk for somebody to control their destiny, and I can't let the opportunity go to waste." Travis stood up, and faced Natalie with compassionate eyes. "If you want to back out, break up with me, I understand. I don't want to burden you anymore."

Natalie grabbed Travis' hand and stopped him from moving any further. "I don't care if you're the Renegade or not. What matters is that you're doing the right thing for the right reasons." She pulled him around, giving him a smile that Travis mentally photographed. "I think it's really sweet." She leaned forward, using her toes to kiss Travis, who answered back with a kiss of his own. "I became Night Streak to follow the Renegade's actions. This is what Beck's conscious wanted you to do, and I think you can do it. We just need time and practice. And the only way we can do that is as a team." Travis looked back, smiled, and closed his eyes, thinking that his world could only get better. His girlfriend had accepted his secret, she was a crime-fighter herself, and they were teaming up. Things couldn't get much better, but on the other hand, they couldn't get much worse either.

* * *

_Next Cycle, Renegade's hideout, 0500 PectroCycles..._

Travis woke up on the couch in the basement of the hideout, only to find Natalie asleep yet again on top of him. Grunting, Travis shoved Natalie to the floor and accessed the computer terminal, then activated his bluetooth. "BIT, it's me. I need you to reactivate the RPA units, and upload this new program into them."

"_YES_." Travis smiled compassionately, as he spoke into the bluetooth once again. "Thanks, buddy. Three of us know this operation, and so far, I'm starting to think you're doing a better job than I am." Travis hung up, just as Natalie rose from the floor, a large bruise on her forehead.

"Y'know, next time you wanna get up when I'm dominating, you could just wake me up." She grunted, using the chair arm to lift herself up.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Travis said, sliding a USB drive into it's respective slot, and importing the new data. "I made us mask badges that the RPA units will be able to identify, and tell us apart from the rest. Whoever maintains posing as us won't have the mask badge. That way we can bring the footage to ASF and clear our friendly neighborhood names."

"But what if they find out and begin replicating the mask badges?" Natalie questioned. Travis grunted, and stood up. "Won't that just undermine our entire counterstrategy?"

"If we can track their location and predict their next attacks, we'll be able to catch 'em before they get away." Natalie nodded, and proceeded to don her costume as Travis followed. The two of them exited the warehouse, and rezzed in their bikes, speeding down the Argon cliffside.

* * *

_Concept's Command Base, Pinnacle, 0530 PectroCycles..._

The two programs stood before Concept, tearing off their Renegade and Night Streak disguises. One wore a blank mask, with no circuitry bearing across the surface of the helmet. The other was a female, long blond hair and teal eyes.

"We got 'em, Concept. I think you'll be pleased with the results," The male said, folding his arms. "We checked the ASF precincts. Every unit is on the lookout for the Renegade and Night Streak. Now... I believe it's time to fulfill your side of the bargain." Without a Nano's thought, Concept snapped his fingers, and an Enforcer came, opening a briefcase with two credit cubes within the box.

"These Credit Cubes are loaded with enough money to keep you set for life." Concept growled. Hiring common thieves was beneath him, but these two... they were special. Spectrum and Illusion were two burglars known for replicating technology and coding to the point that nobody could tell the difference between them and the real thing. So far, they had twenty false aliases in Argon City alone, and countless others across half the Grid. This didn't stop Concept from hiring these two for framing the only two programs that stood in his way. The Renegade and Night Streak had taken down Hobgoblin, and the Renegade alone had taken out Jet Sentry, Longshot, and tricked Gregor into turning himself in. It was obvious that even one vigilante could be a hazard to his master plan, but two programs of the same combat skill, potential and perception were too dangerous to remain on the Grid.

"Look, I can't stay, I have other clients that require my attention," Spectrum said, reversing his arms to their previous position. "S'been good working with you..."

"Hold it." Concept held up his hand, all Enforcers on the pinnacle drew their disks, and the two criminals stood still as concrete. "I believe I have another assignment for you." Everybody relaxed, though the Enforcers surrounding the three kept their disks activated. "It involves new technology being imported from Bismuth. It is only natural that I be the one to acquire the new technology, and use it to further my empire. And you are most likely the only programs who can acquire it for me." The two programs looked at each other in confusion, though Spectrum was not expressing any visible emotion.

"Uh, all due respect, Concept," Illusion said, grimacing against the yellow circuitry, "But we don't have the stuff to take down an armored Light Tanker. It isn't everyday we do this sort of gig."

"That's why you work for me right now," Concept muttered, snapping his fingers again. Two more enforcers opened two large cubes, and armor slipped onto their bodies. "I will equip you with the tech you require. After all, they call you Spectrum and Illusion for a reason..."

* * *

_Argon Security Force Precinct 5, 0600 PectroCycles..._

"...And that's why we want to help." The Renegade gripped the window of Sergeant Juno's office, while Night Streak barricaded the door. "These programs are imposters. They don't have my mask badge. Look at these readings." The Renegade gripped the hologram, and pressed on the Renegade's holographic picture. Readings came streaming out, and the badge, containing the "T" symbol of his outfit as a mask badge. "That's my mask badge, right there. On the surveillance tapes of the Renegade imposter, you'll find that there's no mask badge." Travis turned off the hologram, placed it on his utility belt, and turned around.

"Thanks for helping," Travis commented, leaping out the window, with Night Streak closely following him. The two gripped their batons and rezzed out their twin Light Jets, heading towards the quay.

"Why are we heading towards the harbor?" Night Streak asked over the comm, pulling up alongside Travis' Light Jet, "Shouldn't we be heading towards the base? We could track those guys from the feed nexus, and..."

"Not staying focused on the big picture, Nat," Travis said, swooping towards Argon Suspension Bridge, "Remember when I was checking the feeds earlier?" Night Streak nodded, "I got notice of some new prototype coolant systems on their way to GridTech. And we both know that Concept likes to get his viral little claws on new tech. My guess is Concept is running a smear campaign with two crooks. Just like Hobgoblin, only this time they're disguising themselves as you and me." Natalie shrugged, having no counterargument. Before another mile could be completed, an explosion rocked the bridge, catching the Renegade's attention. "And one armored truck it is. Concept's thugs aren't getting away this time."

Meanwhile, Spectrum and Illusion smashed through the truck's back doors like sheets of paper. Spectrum grinned without even grinning, hoisting the contents of the truck with a beam of light. "Hope Concept pays big for this. Klyon Crystals aren't cheap, and by the time we get back to his fortress, the repulsion beam charge'll be dead. Hell, we ain't making a profit, quite the contrary!"

"Users, pick an accent and stay with it!" A voice echoed across the bridge, and the two imposters looked up to see two feet from the same body smash into their line of sight. The Renegade shoved his baton onto his thigh and chuckled. "Luckily, you have your Friendly Neighborhood Renegade to help stick to one: _Dead silent._" The two imposters grimaced, and made a desperate run, their cargo in immediate tow, when two cables slipped around their legs. The Renegade had his prey lassoed good, and with a flick of the wrist, brought the two to the ground. The impact caused the repulsion beam to flicker, and Spectrum's cargo crushed a Grid Limo's hood. The Renegade smiled as he looked around. "You're probably wondering where my comrade Night Streak is. If you find her, you win a prize."

The two thieves cautiously glanced around, until Spectrum's eyes lay down on Night Streak's circuits from the bridge overhang. "There she is! They've cornered us!"

"Congratulations!" Travis shouted, grabbing Spectrum's head with his legs, and tossing him into Illusion. "You win your prize! With great power comes a great beat-down! Who knew a couple of magicians would be sore losers? What's with you guys taking job offers with Concept; Did you not get any offers for kid's birthday parties?!"

"Fool! Spectrum is not a magician!" Spectrum shouted, drawing his disk and scattering smoke bombs across the floor. "Spectrum is a master of the Archaic Arts!" The Renegade groaned in mockery.

"Well, it seems to me that Spectrum is a master of talking to himself in third-person."

"They're just a couple of superhero wannabes!" Illusion shouted. "And we're getting our rear ends handed to us! We gotta bail!" Spectrum gestured to the Renegade that expressed a form of saying 'How?', and Illusion groaned. "You know what I'm talking about! The device!" Spectrum rummaged around his bag as the Renegade leaped atop the coolant chamber.

"One order of butt-whooping, coming right up!" As he descended on the two, Spectrum cast a device from his bag, and they disappeared, along with the coolant chamber. Travis just blankly stood there, watching the ground, before finally plopping on the ground and, as Night Streak descended towards him, muttered, "Ugh, I hate it when that happens!"

* * *

_Next Cycle, Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 0900 PectroCycles..._

Travis' eyes fluttered open, as he checked his alarm clock. 0900 PectroCycles was a little late to sleep in, but since it was the end of the MylaCycle, he was given the Cycle off. This gave him plenty of time to search for Spectrum and Illusion without the burden of work on his shoulders. Grunting in a tired voice, Travis plopped back onto the comfy surface of the bed, only for his face to meet a thin layer of smooth, comforting brown hair. Natalie lay sprawled across the bed, a look of content plastered across her silky face. Her hair was wrangled out of it's usual bun, and cascaded in a thin wave over Travis' face. Travis' face transitioned into a smile, as he ran her hair through his fingers.

Natalie lifted her eyelids, rolling over to meet Travis' exhausted gaze. Grabbing his neck with her arms, she pulled him in for a quick kiss. Releasing him, she sighed. "We don't have to search for Spectrum and Illusion today. You and I are staying here today."

"Hun, I'm sorry, but I have today off, and I can't miss another day of work. I'm already behind on my studies at Argon Institute, and Heliod's pushing to get my Cryo Cubes out on the market by next MylaCycle." He looked up, smirked in a mischievous manner. "Tell you what. Stay here, and I'll take out Spectrum and Illusion." Natalie gave him the same look, and kissed him again before going back to sleep. Travis smiled, rezzed on his top, and grabbed his biker jacket before closing the door.

As he slowly closed the door, Zek walked by with three glasses of energy in his grip. Chucking one to Travis, his best friend caught it, raised it ever-so-slightly, and chugged it down in one go. Zek's eyes widened, and he proceeded to enter Travis' room, but was stopped by the room's owner, who placed a finger on his lips. Zek nodded, understanding his friend's message, leaving the spare glass on a table outside the door, leaving it for when Natalie woke up. Travis smiled in relief, sighing as he closed the door, and activated his Renegade suit, and burst outside the fire escape.

* * *

_Concept's Command Base, Pinnacle, 1000 PectroCycles..._

"Look, Concept, this ain't working," Spectrum said, using his repulsion beam to slowly lower the coolant chambers. "We're gonna be paying for another Klyon Crystal sooner or later, and the Renegade forced us to use our new warp fixture. It's a one time use, and you know how expensive the materials are, and the Renegade's onto us. He's figured out our tricks, and he's trying to starve us off our resources."

"I understand your situation," The virus spoke malevolently, "But you are exhausting our funds. I am willing to provide you with a small bonus, however, if you can bring the Renegade in alive. I would very much like to see his true identity before I derezz him. This way he'll lose everything.

"This way, he'll wish he was dead. And I shall grant him his wish."

* * *

_GridTech Labs, Lab 7, 1200 PectroCycles..._

Travis whistled as he dove into the window of his lab, changing into his street clothes before he entered the lab. Folding his helmet back, he looked at the lab that was supposedly his. And when he looked at it, there wasn't a single thing about it that made it unique from the others. Any of the new equipment he had been developing for his alter ego had vanished, as had the Cryo Cubes and Holographic Reality System he had been developing. All that remained was the computer desk, Explosion Safety Barricades, and heavy machinery that had been there the day he first became a member of GridTech's think tank.

A loud click forced Travis out of his frightened trance to see Heliod standing in the doorway. He turned to her and gaped, pointing to the empty laboratory before him. "Heliod... What's going on?! Where's all my stuff?!" Heliod sighed, then pointed to Travis' desk chair.

"Sit down, kid. We need to talk." Travis reluctantly edged himself into the chair he was assigned to, and Heliod pulled up her own chair. "I'm pretty sure you're having a tough time wrapping your head around this." Travis' mind flared in rage. Was this woman oblivious to his expressions or something?! Heliod, finally noticing Travis' expressions of anger, sighed. "The entire think tank is considering dropping you from the payroll. All of your experiments will be transferred to other labs that specialize in the specific fields of tech." Travis stood up, pulling off a half-silent rage.

"Heliod, this is ridiculous and crazy! What have I done to consider being fired?! This doesn't have anything to do with the Renegade, does it?!"

"Of course not. Now, sit down." Travis obeyed, though skeptical, and calmed down to the best of his ability. "Now, the Cryo Cubes have been shipped out, and we made an incredibly large profit off of them. But the rest of the experiments you were working on have been stripped of their patent, and the think tank has decided to leave you out of credit. Without your doctorate in technical design, they think you're not ready for this job."

"But you can't just cut me from my job! Without it, I'll have to drop out of AI, and I was programmed to make the Grid more technologically sound anyway! Where'll I work?! It's not like I can just walk into Liparth Corp and ask for a job!"

"I don't know, kid." Heliod's voice sounded sympathetic, and it was then that Travis realized it wasn't her fault. He had wrongly accused her of something she didn't do. "But a majority of your think tank thought that you shouldn't work here. Only Bella and Sajini stuck up for you, but they were able to compromise for you to receive your full salary until we can work something out. Don't worry, kid. You'll get your job back, I promise." Travis nodded, standing up and scaling the staircase. This was a terrible Cycle already, and he couldn't hope that it wouldn't get any worse, because when he did it, they always turned against him.

Leaping out his lab's window, Travis' Renegade suit folded over his body, and allowed him to fire a cable at a building and pull him to the top of the building. Activating his lenses, Travis scanned the area, searching for a thermal coding signature with coding similar to Spectrum and Illusion's. The match turned out to be a complete and utter disaster, with thousands of blips showing up on the charts. Scaling back down the wall in defeat, Travis glared up and his eyes turned into saucers as an _Enigma_- Class Light Fighter closed in on him. Four wings, two on each side, were retrofitted to fit three rapid-fire concussion launchers, and was connected to a large cockpit that required two to pilot.

"Gah!" Travis leaped away from the blasts that crashed into the building, shrapnel and coding splintering into the air. The concussion cannons were faster than he was, and propelled him into the side of the next building over. "Well, if it isn't Spectrum and Illusion. Too afraid to come and face me outside? Or are you going to actually man up?" This caught their attention, and the ship appeared to prepare a landing sequence, but as Travis smiled in victory, the laser cannons on the cockpit's roof fired at him. Travis deftly dodged the blasts, landing on the cockpit and smashing the laser cannon in on itself. Rezzing in his Light Katana, the Renegade sliced a hole wide enough for one man, and slipped into the cockpit. All that he saw was two drones, and four white eyes glaring back at his lenses.

"Aw, scrag!" Travis shouted, placing his katana on his thigh and grappling with the first drone. "Should've seen this coming! Hey!" The two drones nailed Travis to the grin, who cupped his jaw in pain. "You guys happen to see Spectrum and Illusion? I have a bone to pick!" His voice was ignored as the drone smashed his fist into the floor, narrowly missing Travis' head. Travis retaliated by headbutting the drone in the chest, and smashing his disk into it's chest. While the drone fell, it's counterpart leaped at the Renegade, who disabled it, opened the airlock, and closed it just as the airlock swept the drone out the window.

"Alright, then, my flying metal friend," Travis said, taking a seat at the controls, "Welcome to the team. Guess you're gonna need a name. Hmm... what about _Phoenix_? Well, guess you can't object, so _Phoenix_ it is." He looked at the previous coordinates, and frowned. "Well, looks like your old owners have been hiding downtown. Time to investigate."

* * *

_Unidentified Warehouse, 1800 Dead Star Burroughs..._

Leaving the _Phoenix_ at the hideout and taking his own Light Jet, Travis had landed on the roof of the industrial sector of Dead Star Burroughs, and was trying to decide a method of attack. If he snuck in, they could track him if he was caught. If he just came with his disk blazing, they could quickly retaliate, and come gunning for him at a Micro's notice.

"Guess my methods are limited... Disks blazing it is!" Travis raised his boot and smashed the door inward, and activated his disk before setting his foot on the ground. "Weird... nobody's home." Gripping the banister of the stairwell, Travis jumped several stories, his cable gripping the ceiling to prevent gravity ending his career. "This is really creepy... just like Hobgoblin. Speaking of which, I wonder where that freak is." Activating his comm, he pressed a button on his wrist, and a secure comm line activated. "Night Streak, you there?" All that replied was static. Travis growled, hanging up. "Guess I'm on my own for now."

Before he assumed anything else, a disk flew by him and ricocheted off the walls into Spectrum's grip. "Here we go Illusion! Take 'em down!" Travis recoiled and bounced downwards, tackling Spectrum and cracking his knuckles. A flash of harsh light attempted to blind Travis, and his lenses allowed the glare to be reduced and see multiple Spectrums rez in from nowhere.

"Great. More drones. Perfect." Travis flipped onto the top of the first android, and stabbed his fist through the neck joint of the drone. "First tactic: use one enemy against the rest." He jammed his hand into the wiring and gripped several important cables. One of them grabbed a rifle baton, rezzed it in, and began spewing bullets into the crowd. "Second tacticMultiple drones fell, and Travis ripped the rifle from the drone, and let it collapse from the loss of a head.

'_All right, then. Here's my new tech._' Travis pressed a button on the side of his helmet, and the HUD turned to a holographic visor. '_Good thing I stole that Holographic Reality System back and made a smaller version. At least now I can tell which ones are drones._' The ones that were organic coding flashed out in red, and artificial drones would be thermally coded a light haze of indigo. "There we go. Smile for the dentist." Travis raised his boot, crashing it down on the drone and spiral-kicked it into two more drones.

"I swear, you'd think with all this action that we're in a video game." Travis muttered to himself, as all but one Spectrum fell. The real one. "Howdy, Spectrum! Ready to go down?"

"Meh, enough with the tricks and mirrors." Spectrum folded his arms, and Illusion tried to tackle Travis from behind. The Renegade dodged as the two tricksters collided, and crashed into the pillar. Travis walked up and grabbed Spectrum by his neck.

"Trick or Treat, Spectrum!" Spectrum just stared at Travis, and the Renegade raised his fist. "What? I'm getting a head start this XilaCycle." The fist made contact, and Spectrum collapsed on the ground. Travis lowered the unconscious Spectrum and activated his bluetooth. "Phone, call..." He looked around and saw neither Spectrum nor Illusion was in sight. "Abort command." Growling, he punched the wall and gripped his fist. "Aw, clixel it.

* * *

_Concept's Command Base, Pinnacle, 2000 PectroCycles..._

Concept stood silently, watching the two thieves limp out of the elevator. Both were covered in bruises and scrapes, and pieces of shrapnel were jammed into their legs.

"I take it the Renegade saw through your weakly hidden veil?"

Spectrum grabbed a chair from an Enforcer, and sat down. "_Noooo_. What was your first clue, Concept?" Concept turned around and loomed over the two fallen criminals.

"I do not need magic to see that you two have failed." His yellow circuits flared in anger, but cooled down as he huffed, throwing his cape back in disgust. "I am not willing to let you back on our streets. You now too much about the base's inside." He turned around to see Argon's steady traffic flowing cleanly through the bloodstream of streets. "But, as fate would have it, I have a proposition." Spectrum and Illusion gaped at each other, and sat up. "I have a team that is preparing to take down the Renegade and Night Streak. I am willing to accept you two as members. If you do accept..."

"Yeah, whatever." Spectrum groaned, and leaned backward. "We'll join your comedy troupe. Just give us some medical help and the applications, and you have your final two members." Concept snapped his fingers again, and two Enforcers took them in stretchers to the medical ward.

'_Everything is coming to fruition,'_ Concept said, smiling behind the mask he could never remove, in fear of everything he had worked for being torn away. '_My personal army is complete. The Superior Six is complete._'

* * *

_Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 2100 PectroCycles..._

Travis placed his disk on it's proper space, and the suit-like circuit appearance flowed over his body. His usually scruffy hair had been smoothed out and shined enough that certain angles could be considered lens flares. He sighed, kicking some new Renegade tech under his bed before a knock came into contact with his door. He breathed deeply, and sat down. "Come on in." The door slid open, and Natalie strode in, wearing a sleek, light-purple dress that held at the shoulders.

"Hey," she smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "We're supposed to meet Zek for dinner with him and his girlfriend in a PectroCycle. You ready?"

"Uh.. yeah," Travis lied, not being able to tell her. "Um.. Nat, I think I have to move out of here."

"What? But... you two have never been happier since you became the Renegade! You can't just move out now!" Travis cupped her cheek and embraced her tightly.

"Think about it realistically, hun. You've been spending more and more time with me. We can't just keep living here and over-occupying Zek's space. You're welcome to move in with me if you want. I'm getting an apartment near here, still in Tribeca, just closer to work. I want Zek to be happy, but I doubt living here with him is going to make hi happy long-term." As Travis ended his incredibly short monologue, his bluetooth went off. "Hold on, I gotta take this. Hello?"

"_Trav, it's Heliod._" Travis raised a suspicious eyebrow. "_I have good news. The think tank has agreed to give you back your job. And with a great extra._" Travis smiled silently, and Heliod continued. "_They've agreed to give you a 20% raise in salary. You won, kid. Show up tomorrow, and remember, the future rests on GridTech._" Travis beamed, and closed his door, holding Natalie along the waist.

'_I guess that means a happy ending again_,' Travis thought, '_And just because these crazy thins happen, eventually the benefits come back to help me even more._' He smiled, kissing Natalie softly as he looked back at his apartment. '_Face it, Trav. You just hit the Big Time._'

* * *

A/N: Thus, this arc concludes the Sibling Rivalry arc, and I'll be starting the "My Own Worst Enemy" arc soon. I was a bit late uploading, but I've been held back by financial problems and my parents are having more problems than I am. Here's to more success, and I'll keep you informed.

Yes, I guess PrincessKai317 pretty much called it by saying Natalie was Night Streak, but I guess it was pretty obvious from the start. Nonetheless, I guess I'll make myself yet another challenge by trying to shove her into every story. Maybe I'll leave her as just Natalie and et the Renegade run solo a couple of times.

**Next: Just because it's a Brand New Day... doesn't mean all is sunshine and rainbows. The Renegade and Night Streak square off with the Superior Six, and their teamwork and relationship will depend on their ability to defeat six of Travis' worst enemies.**


	9. Chapter 9: Brand New Cycle

Chapter 9: Brand New Cycle

'_And_ s_o it begins._' Travis smacked his alarm clock, and yawned as he stretched his arms upward. '_I guess it's the beginning of a brand new Cycle. Another boring and uneventful day as Travis, another injury-filled one as the Renegade._' He held out his arms, and his Renegade costume folded over his street clothes. Travis gripped the windowsill, fired off a cable, and swung out into Argon's cityscape. '_I can't believe my luck. I've actually got a raise at work, my girlfriend knows my identity, not to mention fights crime with me, and there's been little to no crime for the last MylaCycle. Things are actually starting to look up for once._'

'_But if there's one thing I'm missing right now, it's Zek. He left for a business trip a couple Cycles ago, and it's just been me, Natalie and my bedroom all this time_.' He looked at his GridTech standard-issue tablet, and had begun to look at apartments within Tribeca. '_I really want to get my own apartment, so Natalie can move out of her closet of a home and live with me, but then Zek'll get lonely. He's already depressed with Miranda's deresolution, and me moving out will only make it worse. I'm so confused..._' Travis sighed, as an alert flashed on his HUD. "And a little something to take my mind off of my troubles." Travis opened a panel to see an RPA unit crawling across West Boulevard. There, he saw hundreds of programs at war. Two sides were engaged in combat, one side bearing red primary circuits, the others bearing purple. The two leaders were clashing across the two rooftops, both using flight suits to get the gridlocked advantage.

"Twilight and Spasm? Again? I thought I dealt with them a MylaCycle ago!" Travis activated his comm, and leaped into the air. "Nat, you there? We've got a gang war on West and 322nd, it's Twilight and Spasm."

"_Again?_" Natalie's voice came over the comm, "_I thought we..._"

"Dealt with them last MylaCycle? Yeah, that's what I said. Meet me there and get ready for a couple hundred foot soldiers." The comm went static, and Travis leaped into the next building's vicinity. '_Can't believe this. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I'm missing way too many details. I don't say I blame Beck for just racing head-on into Tesler's forces. But that was his own problem. He didn't try to plan ahead. He just let Tron plan for him. I, on the other hand, don't have a Tron to plan for me. Night Streak's there, but she's more of a sidekick/teammate thing than a boss. So it's really up to the Renegade to decide his own movement._'

Travis rounded a corner on his cable and found the conflict turning uglier than it had to. The two gangs had drawn disks, and several lay bleeding code or in pieces on the floor. Travis gripped his cable, using the force to release it and drop onto two thugs. "I'll have none of that, thank you!" Several more thugs from both sides began teaming up to slug punches at the Renegade, who consistently dodged and blocked each blow. "This.." He threw a kick at a crook, who flew into two others. "...is what you get... for bringing your wars..." He gripped two others, knocked them out, and tossed them into their companions. "... To my streets!"

Spasm began clenching his fists, ready to punch Travis with a blazing fist, and nearly succeeded. The only manipulated probability was Travis turning around by coincidence, and barely dodging the blow. The Renegade growled darkly, and smashed Spasm in the nearest wall. Four large claws sprouted from Travis' chute pack, and held Spasm to the wall by his limbs. "I wouldn't attack somebody from behind. It's quite rude."

"I... I- I can breathe explosions." Spasm managed to choke out, but the Renegade only responded by increasing the pressure. "You really don't wanna mess with me or my boys, when I have this kind of power."

"No, you don't have the ability to breathe explosions. But your modified Light Suit certainly does." Travis retracted his backpack's claws, and allowed Spasm to collapse on the coded cement. "But, considering I just partially crushed your trachea, you might want to reconsider using your suit's special abilities before wasting your oxygen." Travis tied Spasm to the top of a flagpole, and activated his comm. "Streak, you there?"

"_I'm here, there, everywhere. And before you ask, yes, yes I did catch Twilight. She's hanging in two Duratanium ropes at the top of ASF Precinct 6's flagpole. You can thank me at dinner tonight, sweetie._"

"Of course I can. Wait, ASF Precinct 6 has a flagpole? Never saw it. Is it on the west corner?"

"_Yeah, whatever you say. I'll meet you at 1800 Pectros._" Travis nodded, hung up, and rezzed in his Light Cycle as ASF forces screeched into the alleyway, ready to pick up the tied-up criminals. '_Well, this is just great. If I don't pick up the pace, I'll be late again. And Professor Iylah really isn't happy about me being late for morning classes_.'

* * *

_Argon Institution, Professor Iylah's classroom, 1200 PectroCycles..._

The clock slowly ticked in the classroom, as Travis slowly filled out the needed bubbles on his test's holopad. He lowered his stylus, picked up his backpack, and trudged up to the front of the classroom.

"You're finished already?!" Bella, fellow student and co-worker at GridTech, seemed shocked at the speed Travis had finished his exam. Then again, his previous tests were always high in score, and he always finished very quickly. "Well, what did you get for number 9?"

"Number 9?" Travis looked at his paper, then looked up with a mischievous grin on his face. "The biggest laugh all morning." Travis walked up, handed his paper to Professor Iylah.

"Trav, I'm sorry, but there's no possible way you could have finished the test this quickly." Travis smiled and traced his finger over the edge of the test papers.

"Well, this one was a bit too easy, professor. Oh, by the way, there was a typo on section four. I fixed it for you." Professor Iylah just stood in complete shock, watching Travis slowly parade out the door at his own pace, then turned back to grade Travis' test in mutual shock.

"There is, however, the matter..." Iylah stood at attention as Travis bolted around, with the fear that his thesis was due in ten Cycles, and just hoped that he could make every deadline he had right now. The key word being hope.

* * *

_Argon Institution, Atrium, 1230 PectroCycles..._

Travis sat on the rooftop of AI's atrium, looking over the vast cityscape of Argon. The only problem was, before he came into town, Concept hadn't parked his military fort in the center of Argon, and the orange circuitry stuck out through the white as a thick wound. Travis narrowed his eyes, and gripped the nearest pillar of the Argon Mechanical Museum.

"This day just can't get any better. One moment I'm on the bottom, yet right now I'm at the top of the A-list." Travis' HUD went off as a bomb came across his viewscreen. The Renegade managed to duck out of the way as the explosion ripped through the sky. "Okay, scratch that. I guess now I'm at the bottom of the body heap."

"Ah, my old friend, the Renegade!" A voice came through Travis' audio processor, as a familiar figure, with green-tinted eyes and a wide, creepy grin spread across his face. "Long time, no see! I look forward to this being our last encounter, on your end! Ah-hahahahaha!"

"Well, if it isn't Hobgoblin. Did Concept break you out, or did you just escape ASF forces?" Travis cracked his neck, and stood up to fight, only to be slammed into the wall of the Tron Memorial Commerce Center entryway. The Renegade grimaced, cupping his cheek, only to see Longshot standing next to Hobgoblin. "Well, I take it Longshot had a deal you couldn't refuse, but that's just me and my terrible guessing skills. What's up with the gang of super-villains anyway?"

"Sorry about the team-up, hun." Tess grinnned, giving Travis the middle finger. "Miss your pretty Night Streak? I'm sure that you'll need her in 10 nanos. Maybe even five."

"Well, she's coming." Travis stood up, hissing in pain before stretching out his injured body. "She's coming, but I can take both of you out until then." Hobgoblin cackled, grabbing two bolas and flailing them in front of his eyeline.

"Sounds like a tough love life, Renegade. I'm here." Travis dodged the first bola, but was caught up in the second and wrenched his way free.

"Yeah?" Travis snarked, gripping his disk and activating the edge. "Well, you aren't as pretty." Travis landed a hit on Longshot, who flew backwards and was caught in midair by Hobgoblin. "So, you two are working together? What common interests do you two have besides me?"

"Two of us?" Hobgoblin cackled once again. "Renegade, you've got more than two problems on your plate. Remember Gregor? He's got powers now." Travis' eyes widened as a small tidal wave swept into the street. Taking a closer magnification shot, Travis widened his eyes when he saw that the water was in fact millions of tiny nanodroids, grouping together to allow a man wearing Scout Sentry armor to surf into the street of a war zone.

"My Users... Gregor?!" Travis shouted in alarm. "Gregor, what did they do to you?!"

"They simply allowed me to take the reins of my own career. This was what I was building at GridTech, until you ruined my career." Gregor raised his right arm, and a blast of nanodroids slammed into the area where Travis once stood, and continous blasts slammed into places while Travis evaded each with an overuse flurry of parkour. "The name Gregor means nothing. He is no more to my existence. I am Rene-Slayer."

"Oh, and your old enemies? They're ba-a-ck." The voice came from nowhere, and Travis felt hundreds of blows striking him per second. Jet Sentry screeched to a halt, cracking his knuckles in pure satisfaction. Gripping his arms and face in pure agony, Travis watched as two large blasts of light opened and revealed Spectrum and Illusion when the light dissipated.

"Now, then, Renegade," Gregor said, retracting his nanodroids into his backpack. "Any last words? I'd say them in about ten seconds, since that's how long you have to live."

"Uh, how about no?" Travis gulped, and braced his body as six of his worst enemies closed in for the kill.

* * *

_Unidentified Warehouse, Dragon Flats Burroughs, Time systems disabled..._

Natalie's eyes plodded open, but darkness still filled her line of sight. She was in a pitch-black room, and there was nothing coming out of her neck when she activated her helmet to use night vision.

"Uh, hello?!" She shouted, and as if on cue, a floodlight bore down on her, and she saw her current position. Her legs and arms were tied behind her back, her disk laying a few meters away from her bound form. She tried moving out of her bindings, sliding her legs back and forth, but the Duratanium cables apparently hated her with every once of durability.

A boot kicked her from behind, and she fell face-forward onto the wet floor. Grimacing, she looked up to see three programs staring down at her. The three were dressed in Light Guard uniform, and had only white circuitry outlining their bodies.

"Well, as long as we're here, you mind telling me who you are?" Natalie managed to twist her body around, sitting upright once again. "It's obvious you don't want me to know who you really are, but it's also clear that you want something from me."

"Actually, we don't need to know who you are. Just your connections." The one in the front middle, probably the leader, spoke in a distorted voice. "You're on the side of the Renegade, right?"

"You read the holopapers lately? Yeah, the Night Streak costumeI'm wearing should've tipped you off too. What do you want with the Renegade?" The front one kneeled down, grabbed her cuffs, and undid her bindings. Natalie suspiciously backed away, drawing her disk but keeping it inert. "What? That's it? You're just letting me go? Why?" The apparent leader just stood there, and spoke softly, only loud enough for her to hear.

"We need you to speak to the Renegade for us. His reappearance is disturbing, and we need his help nonetheless. Tell him that three of the original Light Guard need to speak with him. Gallium, ten cycles from today. Think you can do that?"

"You think I'm going to trust you and just believe that you are three of the original Light Guard? You're out of your mind! If I'm going to tell the Renegade, I need proof that you're the real deal!" The leader looked at his left comrade, who nodded slowly. The programs all unraveled their helmets, and Natalie gaped at the sight she looked at. Standing in front of her were Hax, Riot, and Sivet. Truly three of the first Light Guard.

"There." Hax spoke that word, and Natalie lightened her stance. "Do you believe us now?"

* * *

_Tron Memorial Commerce Center, 1230 PectroCycles..._

"Only six of you, huh?" Travis mocked as he punched Rene-Slayer in the face, only to be sucker-punched by Jet Sentry and sent flying into Hobgoblin. "What happened, did CodeWorm not wanna come play as a zombie?"

"Nope. Just didn't have the work ethic." Hobgoblin tossed Travis downwards, and Jet Sentry slammed the Renegade into the nearest wall. "And the Mets win the pitch for tonight's game!" Travis groaned, and fired a cable at Hobgoblin, landing on his back.

"Okay, let's start by grounding this Goblin!" Travis grabbed the backpack on Hobgoblin's back, and dug his fist into it. Instead of ripping through it, the Renegade's hand met it with a clang, and the fist's owner howled in pain.

"Wow, you don't think I've come unprepared, do you?" Hobgoblin cackled tossing Travis over the side. "The Hobgolbin may be a puppy compared to you, but he's still got some tricks up his sleeve!The backpack's made of reinforced steel! Nothing can break through it!"

"In fact, none of your previous methods will defeat us," Gregor snarled, sending a wave of nanodroids to assault the two airborne programs.

"How badly do you wanna test that theory?!" Travis shouted, shoving a grenade into the backpack's shell. The Renegade leaped off, and the explosion ripped through the sky. Hobgoblin's wings crippled, and their owner tumbled towards the ground, crashing headfirst into Longshot. Travis looked back and grinned. "That was easy. Two down, four to go." Looking at the crowd of super-villains before him, he soon realized his mistake. "On second thought, I'll go." Travis gripped a manhole cover with his cable and flung it into Gregor's direction. His body recoiled from the force of the attack, shoving him into the wall of the commerce center.

"Thanks for the playtime. I really enjoyed it, but I have places to go and people to save." Travis leaped into the sewer system, as multiple attacks bombarded the surface.

"This can't any worse," Travis said, gripping the ceiling of the sewer, "Six of my worst villains are after me, Night Streak is nowhere to be found, and..." Travis sniffed the air, and winced in disgust. "I think I just discovered the worst smell since Zek's first attempt at concentrated energy." Travis' eyes widened when a large blast shook the sewer system, allowing Jet Sentry, Spectrum and Longshot to enter through the gaping hole, presumably brand new and by their hand, nearby.

"I don't think my wings can fit through here," Hobgoblin said, Travis using his audio processors to listen in on the conversation. "And my grenades don't exactly have the best effect in tunnels."

"Gregor, you and Hobgoblin keep the ASF busy!" Jet Sentry shouted, allowing Travis' audio processors to crackle. "Illusion, get down here! We need to find the Renegade as fast as possible! If we let him get away, he'll know how to counter the strategies we've come up with!" Travis, satisfied with the information acquired, activated the stealth capabilities that were recently integrated into his suit, slinking away into the ceiling's shadows.

* * *

_Next Cycle, GridTech Labs, Lab 6, 0500 PectroCycles..._

Travis hurriedly yawned as he swiped his identi-card into his lab's door, ready to start work early. His door's lock flashed a jade green, and the door pulled inward to his lab, allowing Travis access to his lab. While he closed the door, activating the lights, and using a single power conduit to also activate his equipment, he turned around to see Heliod wading next to his computer systems.

"It's early, Travis. What are you doing here?" Heliod interrogated, with Travis looking at her in confusion.

"Heliod, GridTech is open 24 PectroCycles a day, 7 days a MylaCycle. You told me that yourself, the Cycle I first came in to work here." Heliod waltzed up and grabbed Travis' disk, ripping it off it's dock and thoroughly examining it. "Why are you asking me about coming in early? Besides, I feel like working early."

"Of course you do." Heliod opened Travis' holographic memory databanks, and scanned them for anything conspicuous. She opened a memory and frowned. "Would you please explain the consistent fluctuations in your night memories? They seem to be out of place from before." Travis gulped in anxiety, and looked away towards his lab table in disturbance, to contemplate the edges jabbing against him. Heliod had figured out the fluctuation in his memories to disguise his actions as the Renegade.

"Look, Heliod, the Renegade needs my help. Those memories are the times I meet up with him to help him upgrade his suit. Could we possibly talk about this later?" Heliod's brows furrowed in anger, unable to prove Travis' cover-up a fraud, so she huffed in equal anger and went about her business, slamming Travis' lab door shut. Travis breathed heavily in relief, heading over to the Black Box, his personal storage system.

"Alright, I had been prepared for these villains separately, but six of 'em together? Even I can't fight them alone." Six large crates, filled with Travis' own GridTech-sponsored gear, lay in the corner of the Black Box, and Travis walked over to the center crate. His disk rezzed in the new outfit in his accessories section, and Travis, satisfied, allowed the new suit to ride over his body.

'_It's time to get my glow on,_' Travis thought to himself, watching as a thick, flexible bodysuit came over his own, '_Time to rally all my energy._' Multiple pieces of black, further flexible, multi-caliber bulletproof armor spread over Travis' arms, and a large chest piece connected with his shoulder pads with a rubber grip. '_Find my troops._' His circuitry shone brightly throughout the slits in the armor, and his legs and feet were gripped in the same armor, with accents of red on the kneecaps and edge of his feet. '_If I wanted to take down Concept right now, I could. But the important thing now is to defeat these six guys. Take back my city._' The helmet, a dark scarlet in tone, revealed two black voids and edges, with large white pupils in the center. When the final click was heard, Travis' eyes thinned, and he gripped the baton in his hand tightly.

'_I can't fail. Not when six of my worst enemies are after me. Not now._'

* * *

_Tribeca, Travis and Zek's apartment, 0800 PectroCycles..._

Natalie opened the door of Travis' apartment, hoping to avoid any unnecessary attention. An unnerving aura from the living room, and she turned to find Travis hanging upside down by his cable. An unusual armor covered his body, and a scarlet helmet allowed him to show some emotion in his eyes. She sheepishly grit her teeth, and she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, hun," she said, walking up the staircase, with Travis releasing himself on the ground. "I was in a bit late for work, so I stayed past scheduled time slot."

"Yeah, while you were serving customers at Club Horizon, I got the snot beaten out of me by six of my worst villains." Travis rolled up his elbow armor, and revealed a large cut up his arm. "Turns out Concept's been assembling a team to take me out. Gregor now has his own controlled army of nanodroids, Jet Sentry escaped, and the rest were captured by Concept and released to be his own small squadron of death. Where were you?!"

"I... I need some time to relax, and I'll help out as soon as I can. I promise." Travis growled in frustration, and leapt out the window to face his foes.

* * *

_ISO Cultural Building, Equidistant Triangulation Border of Argon City, 0900 PectroCycles..._

Travis' cable swung him upward to the roof of the building, which divided Argon into a three-way street. His armor, which was created from lightweight Aluminum Silicon compounds, allowed him to move much faster, and was strong enough to let him lift twice the weight of his micro-servos.

"He's back, boys!" Travis' eyes widened, and saw Hobgoblin's foot connect with the helmet. The Renegade seemed unfazed, and Hobgoblin gaped in shock, and turned his gaze to his broken fist, which was twisted in ways best not described. "What the... what did you deck yourself in?!"

"Aluminum Silicon," Travis answered, connecting his fist and sending Hobgoblin a block away. "Strong enough to avoid a punch from anything, and has the ability to block out your Sonic Scream." Hobgoblin grimaced, and shot a concentrated blast of sonic energy in Travis' direction. "Wow, so you managed to control your Lunatic Laugh? Pretty cool, but I'm still not that impressed." Travis gripped Hobgoblin, only dropping him when an alert when off on his 360 degree detection system. Travis ducked to see Jet Sentry deliver a cataclysmic blow to Hobgoblin's face, one that would've kept him down for at least a PectroCycle.

"You!" Jet Sentry barked, clenching his fist. The punch connected, but Jet Sentry howled in pain and recoiled from the pain. "This... this is crazy!"

"Crazy? No... This! Is! Survival!" Travis kicked Jet Sentry in the chest, and he barreled over the side. Travis looked over the edge to see a large crater, with Jet Sentry lying unconscious in the dead center of it. "Who knew the big old Jet Sentry had such poor defense? Kind of ironic, considering you're in Heavy Sentry armor, and those luggers are supposed to be the best defense."

Jet Sentry roared and lunged, using his jetpack to thrust Travis into the rooftop. Travis hissed, kneeing Jet Sentry in the face. Travis raised himself up, and gripped Jet Sentry by the collar of his armor. "I think your friend wants to have some fun." The Renegade flung Jet Sentry, and Wyler gaped when he crashed into Illusion. Spectrum grimaced, and rushed up to flash bright lights in the Renegade's face. When Travis regained his eyesight, there were ten to twelve of his opponent surrounding him.

"Well, that's certainly no problem." Travis clicked a button on his wrist, and a natural coding scanner activated. One was filled in with red and orange, something Travis took as a target to send his fist into. Spectrum yelped in horror, and Travis grinned. "Holographic visor. Lets me tell what you make is an illusion or not. Don't bother critiquing..."

Travis gripped his cable tightly, and sent Jet Sentry, who had tried jumping him from behind, sprawling across the floor by his neck. "... I can see it's already rendered you speechless."

"Holy!" Gregor shouted, helping Wyler up. "You're insane! You could've taken his neck off!"

"Don't worry," Travis said, firing a grenade-like object into the air. The nanodroids exploded out of Gregor's backpack, and as the device exploded, a pink fluid covered the first dozen. "It's only a partially bruised trachea. He'll be fine as long he remains still. As for you, however..." Travis opened a compartment on his left thigh armor, and withdrew his smartphone. "...No matter how static you stand, you're still going down." Travis gripped a button on his phone, and one of the nanodroids went haywire, running in different directions and causing the others to follow suit.

"What the?!.." Rene-Slayer's confusion only increased when a tidal wave of nanodroids swept him off his feet, and at the heel of the Renegade's armored boot.

"Your nanodroids can't be controlled by your mind alone," the Renegade said, placing his foot on Gregor's disk. "You require a queen nanobot to help you control all the bots. My grenade contained a radioactive solution that infected your queen bot, and connected it to my smartphone's wireless signal." Travis pressed in a series of morse code signals, and the nanobots grabbed Gregor, throwing him into one of the walls of the flatiron building. "And this is what you get..." Travis smashed Gregor's helmet open, and sent a brutal fist hurtling into his nose. "...for taking your crimes to my streets!"

"Okay, okay!" Gregor whimpered, cowering from the Renegade's armored shadow. "You win! Just stop already!"

"Not until you tell me your plan!" Travis growled, picking up Rene-Slayer by the shattered remains of his costume. "Now, I'm going to ask this once, and you will answer me with _every_ ounce of truth you still have, Gregor!_ Who sent you after me_?!"

"It... it was Concept!" Gregor choked out from the lack of air, "He sent us to eliminate you, and to get you out of the way. You win, just please let us go!"

"You're right." Gregor looked up in shock to see the Renegade staring towards the atrocity that they had caused. Grid Limos were tilted sideways, craters scarred the sidewalk and main roads. Rooftops were emitting smoke from the brawl, and the Superior Six lay unconscious, sprawled across the street in pain. "You were right, Slayer. I get to win. If I don't, programs like you will get power... and not use it responsibly." Travis drew a wrist-blade from his knuckle, and held it against Gregor's neck. "Let this be a message to all the criminals in Argon, who think it's okay to cross _this_ Renegade!"

Gregor cringed, knowing that the blade might be the last thing he would see as the Renegade . Before the blade could dig any further in, Travis was interrupted. "Tron!" Travis turned around to see Night Streak's Light Cycle swerve into the intersection. Streak pushed her bike into it's baton and rushed up. "Tron, you can't just kill him! All he was doing was following Concept's orders! What's gotten into you?!" Travis looked up, then brought his head down in shame. Releasing Gregor, Travis stood up and activated an ASF security beacon, placing it on the ground.

"Come on, we have a lot of work to do. If we don't get these guys lassoed up, we'll have six super-villains on the loose."

* * *

_Next Cycle, Argon Institution, Atrium, 0900 PectroCycles..._

"I'm really proud of you, Trav," Natalie said, gripping Travis by the waist. "You did the right thing. And best of all, you saved Argon, again. That's worth something." The two walked down the hallway to the next class, as Travis began discreetly studying the camera feed from one of his RPA units with intense curiosity. "Uh, hun? What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering what you told me about. Those three guys claiming to be Light Guards. Do you really think they have their own rebellion?" Natalie shrugged in disbelief.

"I don't know, Trav. What I do know is that you need to trust yourself to make the next big step." Travis sighed, and gripped Natalie by the shoulders.

"Pack your things. I know we just moved in to our new apartment, but we need to get to Gallium. To see if what we're hearing is for real."

* * *

_A/N: Yeah, that was a weak ending, but, you know, setting up a story arc. Anyways, this starts the "My Own Worst Enemy" Arc, and two more story arcs are planned. I just got a new computer, so updates will be slower, but once I get back in the rhythm, we'll be back to constant updates again! Also, if you didn't notice, I added a few easter eggs within this chapter. See if you can find 'em! Tron Lives!_

_Next: "When Extremes Meet". Travis and Natalie investigate the underground resistance in Gallium, only to clash with their leaders over the methods used to defeat Concept's growing grip on the Grid._


End file.
